22nd Century Group, Inc. appointed Wall Street veteran Andrew (?Andy?) Arno to its Board of Directors as an independent director. Mr. Arno has 35+ years of experience handling a wide range of corporate and financial matters, including work as an investment banker, strategic advisor and board member to emerging growth companies. Mr. Arno previously served, until February 2023, as Vice Chairman of The Special Equities Group, a division of Dawson James Securities, Inc., plus other senior roles at investment banking firms. Prior, Mr. Arno served as Vice Chairman and Chief Marketing Officer of Unterberg Capital, LLC, an investment advisory firm that he co-founded, and as Vice Chairman and Head of Equity Capital Markets of Merriman Capital LLC, where he also served on the board of the parent company, Merriman Holdings, Inc. Mr. Arno was responsible for Capital Markets for C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, a Vice President at Lehman Brothers and in the Individual Investors Services Division of L.F. Rothschild Unterberg, Towbin in portfolio management for high-net-worth individuals.

Mr. Arno is currently the Chairman of the Board of Oncocyte Corporation and also serves on the boards of directors of Smith Micro Software, Inc., Independa Inc., and Comhear Inc. Mr. Arno previously served as a director of Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. from August 2014 until it was acquired by Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. in March 2019. Mr. Arno received a BS degree from George Washington University.