22nd Century Group revenue falls 29.9% in second quarter as gross loss narrows
Key Facts
22nd Century Group's net revenue fell 29.9% in the second quarter of 2026 from the same period a year earlier, according to its quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Net revenue totaled 2,864 thousand dollars, compared with 4,083 thousand dollars in the second quarter of 2025. The sales decline coincided with a narrowing of the gross loss to 293 thousand dollars from 635 thousand dollars in the corresponding period, marking an improvement in the company's gross result despite lower revenue. The performance followed an annual contraction in product revenue during 2025, according to the company's annual SEC filing. Total product revenue that year was 17,587 thousand dollars, compared with 24,382 thousand dollars in 2024, a decline of 27.9%. The sales decline thus extended from the annual comparison into the second quarter, while the quarterly gross result remained a loss despite narrowing.
On the regulatory front, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 12, 2026, accepted the company's applications to renew its marketing authorization with modified exposure claims and referred them for scientific review. The action concerns applications to renew an authorization allowing specific claims about nicotine exposure in the marketing of the company's products. Among the permitted statements for VLN products is "95% less nicotine," according to the FDA's regulatory page. That percentage refers to the reduction in nicotine under the permitted marketing claim, rather than a reduction in health risks. In its statement on the authorization, the FDA emphasized the limits of its marketing permission, saying: "Despite this action, these products are not safe or FDA approved." The regulatory framework for these products thus combines permission to make a reduced nicotine exposure claim with a continued warning against considering them safe products.
As background to the company's commercial activity, coverage published by EL7 in May 2026 previously addressed the launch of Pinnacle Pure at more than 2000 retail locations in the United States. The rollout across U.S. retail outlets coincided with a regulatory process that included the acceptance of marketing authorization renewal applications for scientific review during the same month. On the manufacturing side, the company plans to exit its legacy contract manufacturing business, according to management comments reported by Investing in its earnings call coverage published in August. Management said, according to that coverage, that it "expects to complete most of the exit from the legacy contract manufacturing business by early in the first quarter of 2027." This timeline concerns the completion of most of the exit process, with management setting early in the first quarter of 2027 as its target.