22nd Century Group has appointed Anthony Johnson to its board of directors. Johnson is an accomplished life sciences and biotechnology executive leader with broad expertise in corporate strategy, technology development, marketing and business development. Johnson will serve as a member of the board’s scientific advisory and compensation committees.
Johnson is co-founder, president and CEO of Kodikaz Therapeutic Solutions, a next-generation nonviral gene therapy company. He is also a founding partner of Buffalo Biosciences, a lifescience strategic business management firm that supports the evaluation and commercialization of bioscience technologies from concept to market. Previously, he was president and CEO of Empire Genomics, where he transformed a concept formed at a university lab into a preeminent oncology molecular testing enterprise. He also served as the business leader of the stem cell and regenerative medicine franchise for Thermo Fisher (Invitrogen Corporation).
Johnson is an Aspen Institute Health Innovation Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He currently serves on the boards of several organizations, including the WNED/PBS broadcasting service of Western New York.
“Anthony is an industry visionary in the biotechnology field and a strategy expert in both domestic and international capacities. He also holds extensive experience with boards and committees, in mentoring businesses and entrepreneurs and in serving communities,” said 22nd Century Board Chair Nora Sullivan in a statement. “We are fortunate to welcome him to our board of directors where we are confident his contributions will have a significant impact on our company’s business development, commercialization and value creation efforts.”
“Anthony is a multi-talented business strategist and leader with key relationships across the pharma/biotech, diagnostic, investment banking and funding arenas worldwide,” said James A. Mish, CEO of 22nd Century Group. “Having lived and worked in Europe, South America and the U.S., his diversity of domestic and overseas experiences will be an instrumental resource as we execute our international initiatives. We are excited to have Anthony join the 22nd Century family as we build on our broad recognition as a leading plant-based lifescience company.”
