22nd Century Signs Testing Services Agreement with North Carolina State University

22nd Century announced corporate updates regarding a new testing services agreement with North Carolina State University aimed at validating tobacco varieties featuring improved leaf quality and increased crop yields with the same low-nicotine content. The initiative builds upon 22nd Century's reduced nicotine content technology platform, which utilizes plant breeding and biotechnology to reduce nicotine content in tobacco to minimally addictive levels. The company's reduced nicotine tobacco is the foundation of its FDA-authorized VLN combustible cigarette products. The newly signed testing services agreement will focus on confirming commercial viability of tobacco varieties incorporating 22nd Century's patented low-nicotine genetics to increase yield, improve leaf quality and consistency, support more efficient, scalable production, ensure long-term sustainability for contracted growers, and preserve the integrity of the company's reduced-nicotine characteristics. Under the terms of the testing services agreement, researchers at North Carolina State University will work alongside 22nd Century's plant science team to evaluate genetic pathways associated with increased harvest volume per acre and an even better-quality leaf for our new lines of reduced nicotine tobacco. The research is expected to include field evaluations, quality assessments, yield calculations, and alkaloid characterization with nicotine quantification.