22nd Century to Present Overview of Company’s Medical Marijuana and Industrial Hemp Initiatives at LD Micro Investor Conference

CLARENCE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE MKT: XXII),
a leader in tobacco harm reduction and cannabis research, announced
today that the Company will present at the LD Micro Invitational
Investor Conference at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, 11461 Sunset
Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 at
1:30 p.m. EST.

Henry Sicignano, III, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Dr.
Paul Rushton, Vice President of Plant Biotechnology, will provide
investor attendees with a business update and will highlight 22nd
Century’s advances in the rapidly evolving legal medical marijuana and
industrial hemp markets. Headlining the presentation will be Dr.
Rushton’s discussion of the Company’s proprietary cannabis initiatives,
including the development of THC-free industrial hemp varieties and the
propagation of medical marijuana strains that are selected for increased
levels of medically-important cannabinoids, such as CBC and CBD. Both
Mr. Sicignano and Dr. Rushton will be available for one-on-one meetings
at the conference.

Dr. Rushton explained, “We are delighted that our research and
development is opening exciting new paths to medically-important and
industrially-important products. We are developing new medical marijuana
as well as industrial hemp varieties with substantially altered levels
of cannabinoids, all of which will be below the legal limit of 0.3% THC.
We aim to become major suppliers of proprietary plants for both legal
medical marijuana and industrial hemp cultivation, which are projected
to be multi-billion dollar markets in the near term. The Company is
actively filing provisional patents in these fields. We are also
expanding our activities in an increasing number of pilot hemp projects
with research universities possessing all necessary federal and state
licenses and permits. These are exciting times indeed.”

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century is a plant biotechnology company focused on technology
which allows it to increase or decrease the level of nicotine in tobacco
plants and the level of cannabinoids in cannabis plants through genetic
engineering and plant breeding. The Company’s primary mission is to
reduce the harm caused by smoking. 22nd Century currently owns or
exclusively controls more than 200 issued patents and more than 50
pending patent applications around the world. For more information,
visit www.xxiicentury.com
and www.botanicalgenetics.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This
press release contains forward-looking information, including all
statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the
intent, belief or current expectations of 22nd Century Group, Inc., its
directors or its officers with respect to the contents of this press
release, including but not limited to our future revenue expectations.
The words “may,” “would,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,”
“believe,” “intend” and similar expressions and variations thereof are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee
future results, levels of activity or performance. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as
of the date that they were made. These cautionary statements should be
considered with any written or oral forward-looking statements that we
may issue in the future. Except as required by applicable law, including
the securities laws of the United States, we do not intend to update any
of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to reflect
actual results, later events or circumstances, or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events. You should carefully review and
consider the various disclosures made by us in our annual report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, filed on February 18,
2016, including the section entitled “Risk Factors,” and our other
reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which
attempt to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may
affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash
flows. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if
the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary
materially from those expected or projected.

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