- Lexaria Bioscience’s revolutionary DehydraTECH technology enables cannabis consumers to experience rapid-on, rapid-off effects in non-smoked formulations
- A just-announced joint manufacturing partnership between Lexaria and alcohol-free beverage maker Hill Street Beverage Company is paving the way for wider distribution of Lexaria’s platform
- Hill Street is the only company to have gained licenses to use DehydraTECH on a global basis, taking advantage of Lexaria’s multiple international granted and pending patents
- By 2024, cannabis-infused beverage sales are expected to rise by nearly 15 times from last year’s revenues of $89 million
The exploding interest in cannabis products and in new ways of enjoying them has proven fertile ground for drug technology innovator Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) as it markets the company’s revolutionary DehydraTECH platform for increasing the absorption rates of varied edible substances, including nicotine and cannabidiol (CBD).
DehydraTECH is a drug delivery technology that gets ingested active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) molecules to the bloodstream faster than other methods. Under a new agreement announced July 24, the company will expand DehydraTECH’s reach by allowing Hill Street Beverage Company Inc. (TSX.V: BEER), a manufacturer of alcohol-free and cannabis-infused beer, wine, and adult format beverages, to produce commercial products in partnership with Lexaria under a new brand that is yet to be announced (http://ibn.fm/BTodZ).
The new brand will include processed tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and/or cannabidiol (CBD) powder ingredients from cannabis for the Canadian market. The agreement will be in force for 10 years. Both companies expect the arrangement to create the potential of enhanced cashflow, and Lexaria, in particular, is anticipated to benefit from the emerging federally legal cannabis edibles industry in Canada, where edible cannabis products will be allowed under new laws beginning in October.
The new joint manufacturing partnership will create a mechanism for intermediate ingredients made from DehydraTECH-processed cannabis and hemp powders to be sold for the first time on a business-to-business (B2B) basis between Canada’s licensed producers and other businesses licensed by Health Canada to make cannabis-infused edibles. The powders are stable, with a two-to-three-year shelf life, and are odorless and tasteless, providing a full-spectrum cannabis experience for nearly any ingestible product format.
“When we first began our relationship with Lexaria it was based on a comprehensive competitive review of the market with a single uncompromising vision: to find a technology partner who could provide water soluble cannabis, with zero impact on the award-winning taste and aroma of our products,” Terry Donnelly, chairman and CEO of Hill Street, stated in a news release. “This partnership takes our relationship to a whole new level, which we believe will help to set a global standard for excellence that consumers are looking for in cannabis edibles and beverages.”
In addition to the rapid onset of ingested cannabis’ effect enabled by DehydraTECH, the technology creates a mechanism for stronger peak delivery of the effect through higher peak blood concentrations, as demonstrated in third-party lab tests. The technology also delivers the benefit of a “fast-off” effect, with the initial peak followed four hours later by lower cannabinoid content in the blood than some competitors’ nanotech-enabled formulations, leading to a shorter-duration experience that many consumers prefer as they resume other activities.
Hill Street is the only company to gain semi-exclusive licenses to use the DehydraTECH CBD beverage infusion technology in global markets around the world. DehydraTECH has received 11 patents in the United States and Australia and has about 60 additional patents pending in more than 40 countries worldwide.
Food and drink consultancy Zenith Global predicts that the U.S. market for cannabis- and hemp-infused drinks will balloon by nearly 15 times last year’s revenues of $89 million to over $1.4 billion by 2024 (http://ibn.fm/PgbKH).
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LXRP are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/LXRP
