- Willow has entered a joint development agreement with Noramco Inc. that includes a plan to develop a yeast-based biosynthesis platform to produce low-cost CBD for the pharmaceutical, food, beverage and personal care markets
- The agreement has the potential to open the door to new and larger markets for CBD and related compounds
- Terms of the agreement call for the parties to cover their own costs, retain their own intellectual property (IP) and share equally in gross profits
Willow Biosciences Inc. (CSE: WLLW) has entered a joint development agreement (“JDA”) with Noramco Inc. to develop a biosynthesis platform for the production of CBD (http://ibn.fm/2ig1X). The result could be far-reaching, developing low-cost, ultra-pure CBD products for pharmaceutical, food, beverage and personal care consumers. The work has the potential to provide access to new and larger markets for CBD and related compounds.
The JDA requires each company to cover its own costs, retain its own intellectual property associated with its own scopes of work and share equally in the gross profits from sales of CBD produced under the agreement.
Based in Calgary, Canada, Willow Biosciences produces high-value, plant-derived biosynthetic compounds. In the cannabinoid field, the company owns proprietary, yeast-based lab strains that produce CBD, THC and cannabigerol (CBG), as well as other minor and novel cannabinoids. Noramco, based in Wilmington, Delaware, is the world’s largest producer of high-quality synthetic cannabinoid active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for the pharmaceutical and health care industry.
The JDA calls for WLLW to be responsible for optimizing yeast strains in a biosynthetic process that is expected to generate ultra-pure CBD at a lower cost and higher yield than current methods. Noramco will be responsible for scale up, regulatory submission, marketing and distribution.
“They are the obvious first choice as a partner to scale the development of our CBD biosynthesis program,” WLLW Executive Chair Dr. Joseph Tucker stated in a news release (http://ibn.fm/LjPRC). “Noramco’s global leadership program in the production and sales of cannabinoids to pharmaceutical companies will naturally lead into manufacturing and sales into additional nonpharmaceutical markets.”
Bill Grubb, Noramco’s chief innovation officer and VP of global business development, said in a news release (http://ibn.fm/Eh68Y) that the agreement would give Noramco “the capacity to address rapidly increasing market demand for CBD-based APIs and ingredients from pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, consumer packaged goods, beverage and other industry sectors.”
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.WillowBio.com
