- Canada-based Willow Biosciences and U.S.-based Noramco are teaming to biosynthetically produce and market pharmaceutical-grade cannabidiol (CBD)
- The companies expect to deliver yeast-cultivated CBD as a low-cost, ultra-pure alternative to cannabis cultivation that avoids large-scale plant waste from greenhouse processes
- Yeast-grown pharmaceutical ingredients have long served as fodder for insulin and other important drugs; the growing interest in cannabis as a therapy is driving a booming new market
The sea change in societal attitudes about cannabis, accompanied by the opening of governmental regulatory doors for its use (http://ibn.fm/KDlfq), has spawned a land rush by corporate interests set on staking out market territory for business development (http://ibn.fm/8HLQS). The so-called “green rush” began when chronically ill patients reported that cannabis properties provided accessible relief for select conditions. Now, InvestmentPitch Media is reporting in a new video that cannabis industry newcomer Willow Biosciences Inc. (CSE: WLLW) can deliver high yields of ultra-pure, low-cost cannabinoids to an evolving market utilizing proprietary biosynthetic processes.
The video (http://ibn.fm/gRZL3) highlights a recent joint development agreement between Alberta, Canada-based Willow Biosciences and Delaware-headquartered Noramco that will build on Willow’s experience in developing manufacturing processes for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that treat conditions such as cancer, pain and central nervous system disorders, as well as Noramco’s experience in producing high-quality synthetic cannabinoid APIs for the pharmaceutical and health care industry.
Under the agreement, Willow will focus on developing ultra-pure CBD with its pioneering biosynthetic technology, bypassing the costs and waste associated with plant cultivation for a single cannabinoid by optimizing yeast cultivation processes, while Noramco will be responsible for the scale-up, regulatory applications, marketing and distribution of the companies’ products. Their work has the potential to open new and larger markets for CBD and related compounds, as well as providing low-cost solutions to pharmaceutical partners.
“Biosynthesis, in yeast in particular and other processes, is used for producing insulin (and) artemisinin… There are numerous drugs, for example, that are in production today because of biosynthesis,” Willow CEO Trevor Peters said during a May 24 interview with Midas Letter (http://ibn.fm/rvgSE).
“We look at the cannabinoids as an ingredient as opposed to a cultivation process,” Peters added. “It’s baker’s yeast, essentially, that we use. It’s no different than brewing beer, with slightly more complicated – well, much more complicated science that’s involved in actually developing the yeast strain… I’m not sure what the biomass equivalents would be in a greenhouse, but I’m sure you’d be talking about hundreds of thousands of square feet to come up with the same product over a three- to four-month period.”
Noramco Chief Innovation Officer Bill Grubb, the vice president of global business development, expressed his confidence in Willow’s ability to deliver scalable CBD strains through the InvestmentPitch video report.
“The addition of biosynthetic CBD production will augment Noramco’s ability to work with our existing customers and (give Noramco) the capacity to address the rapidly increasing market demand for CBD-based APIs and ingredients from pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, consumer packaged goods, beverage and other industry sectors,” Grubb stated.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.WillowBio.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to WLLW are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/WLLW
