Williamsville, New York, USA
June 3, 2020
- Mish brings extensive global executive leadership experience in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of active pharmaceutical ingredients, including cannabinoids, and related consumer products
- Franzino brings extensive strategic financial leadership experience in tobacco and alcoholic beverage industries
22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) (“22nd Century” or “the Company”), a leading plant biotechnology company primarily focused on reduced nicotine tobacco and also hemp/cannabis plant genetics research and development, announced today that James A. Mish has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective June 22, 2020. The Company also announced that John Franzino has been appointed Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately.
Mish brings extensive global executive leadership experience in science-driven organizations with a recent focus on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (“API”), including cannabinoids, and related consumer products. He has an outstanding track record of delivering profitable growth at both privately held and publicly traded companies. Prior to joining 22nd Century, Mish served as Chief Executive Officer of Noramco, a global leader in the production of controlled substances for the pharmaceutical industry, and Purisys, a synthetic cannabinoid API, ingredients and solutions provider to pharmaceutical and consumer products companies. Mish led the creation and spinoff of Purisys from Noramco during his tenure.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jim as our new Chief Executive Officer at this critical juncture in our Company’s history,” said Nora B. Sullivan, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of 22nd Century. “Jim’s extensive and proven executive leadership capabilities, substantial science-based industry background and deep experience with pharmaceutical and consumer products make him an outstanding candidate to successfully execute on the Company’s initiatives and strategic plan going forward. We are confident that under Jim’s demonstrated leadership capabilities, 22nd Century will continue to build its portfolio of assets and create value for the benefit of our shareholders. We expect that with Jim’s direction and guidance, 22nd Century will achieve meaningful growth as the Company looks towards the anticipated authorization of our MRTP application for our proprietary, reduced nicotine cigarettes, and as we work to develop new hemp/cannabis intellectual property and proprietary plants with valuable cannabinoid profiles.”
“I am delighted to join 22nd Century Group at this pivotal time in the Company’s growth as it looks to deliver on its primary mission to reduce smoking-related harm and also bring new and valuable hemp-derived cannabinoid products to market,” said Mish. “22nd Century is an innovative, plant-based biotech company with an extensive and growing intellectual property portfolio that is poised to disrupt both the tobacco and hemp/cannabis industries. I look forward to partnering with 22nd Century’s Board and management team to drive the business forward to deliver value to our customers and shareholders.”
Sullivan continued, “We are also pleased to welcome John Franzino into the role of Chief Financial Officer. John is an accomplished strategic financial executive with a track record of successful leadership in high-growth, highly regulated, consumer-facing industries including tobacco and alcoholic beverages. We are excited to have a CFO of his caliber on the executive management team to help lead the Company through the next chapter of its growth.”
Prior to joining 22nd Century Group, Franzino served as Chief Financial Officer of the West Point Association of Graduates. Additionally, he has extensive strategic financial leadership experience serving as Vice President of Finance and Controller at Bard College; as Chief Financial Officer of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a subsidiary of Reynolds American, Inc.; and as Chief Financial Officer of Labatt USA. Franzino is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Farleigh Dickinson University.
“Also, on behalf of the Company’s Board of Directors, I would like to thank Andrea Jentsch, who has resigned as Chief Financial Officer due to personal reasons, for her service and significant contributions to the Company. Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, Andrea has built a very strong team critical to advancing the Company’s accounting, finance, information technology and human resources activities, and she has made a number of significant improvements to the Company’s processes, internal reporting and IT resources that will be important enablers for the commercialization of the Company’s proprietary plants and products. We wish Andrea the best in her future endeavors,” Sullivan added.
About 22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) is a leading plant biotechnology company focused on technologies that alter the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in hemp/cannabis plants through genetic engineering, gene-editing and modern plant breeding. The Company’s primary mission in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking by bringing its proprietary reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes – containing 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes – to adult smokers in the U.S. and international markets. The Company’s primary mission in hemp/cannabis is to develop proprietary hemp/cannabis plants with valuable cannabinoid profiles and agronomic traits and to commercialize those plants through a synergistic portfolio of strategic partnerships in the hemp/cannabis industry.
Learn more at xxiicentury.com, on Twitter @_xxiicentury and on LinkedIn.
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