22nd Century Group Inc (XXII)

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22nd Century Group Added to Russell 3000, Russell 2000, Russell Global and Russell Microcap Indexes

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Below text from PR:

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE MKT: XXII) today announced that the Company joined the Russell 3000, Russell 2000, Russell Global and Russell Microcap Indexes on June 27, 2014 when Russell Investments (Russell) reconstituted its U.S. and global equity indexes.

Joseph Pandolfino, the Company’s Founder and CEO stated, “We are pleased to be added to various Russell Indexes. Our inclusion will generate further interest in the Company’s stock among those investors in the investment community who may be less familiar with 22nd Century Group.” He added, “One goal of 22nd Century Group’s management is to be included in the Russell 1000 Index within 3 years.”

Russell determines membership for its equity indexes primarily by objective, market-capitalization rankings and style attributes. Russell Indexes are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors for index funds and as benchmarks for both active and passive investment strategies. As of March 31, 2014, Russell has more than $259 billion in assets under management and works with over 2,500 institutional clients, independent distribution partners and individual investors globally. Approximately $5.2 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the Russell Indexes.

About 22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century is a plant biotechnology company whose proprietary technology allows for the levels of nicotine and other nicotinic alkaloids (e.g., nornicotine, anatabine and anabasine) in the tobacco plant to be decreased or increased through genetic engineering and plant breeding. 22nd Century owns or is the exclusive licensee of 117 issued patents in 78 countries plus an additional 41 pending patent applications. Goodrich Tobacco Company, LLC and Hercules Pharmaceuticals, LLC are wholly-owned subsidiaries of 22nd Century. Goodrich Tobacco is focused on commercial tobacco products and potentially less harmful cigarettes. Hercules Pharmaceuticals is focused on X-22, a prescription smoking cessation aid in development.