While there’s a competition going on between cannabis cultivators on who will be the largest owner of the greenhouse in the world, medical cannabis biotechs are also in the race of who to create a synthetic-type CBD- the type that’s not gotten from the cannabis plant, but a product of laboratory research.
Over time, the greenhouse full of the pungent, verdant plant may become history because medical cannabis patient only needs the cannabinoid, not the plant. Medical marijuana companies will embrace this development because synthetic cannabinoids would cut down the amount spent on production and trigger the PDA approval process. The first company to take the lead would receive a reputation boost in this ever-growing industry. But what is synthetic CBD?
According to the FDA, “there’s a huge and legal difference between the plant-based CBD (which turned out horrific) and the synthetic CBD”. (1)
The synthetic CBD is a purified version of CBD, a compound in a natural form with a molecular structure, enabling its production through organic chemistry settings. Also, synthetic CBD is not grown in a greenhouse but synthesized within the lab.
According to the research team, “it’s imperative to remember that we are still on the early stage of medical cannabis. In the future to come, smoking weed to stop epileptic seizure may go into extinct”.
So it’s no different from the truth to imagine that chemists, pharmacists, including chemical engineers are practically working hard, taking steps further to bring the new pharmacopeia form of treatment into reality.
Just of recent, a scientist at the University of California announced that their lab was the first to create cannabis synthesis, through a process called biosynthesis.
Different pharmaceuticals are in the race of being the first to design and develop pharmaceuticals that doctor and everyone would prescribe to patients while generating billions in sales.
Last year, a deal worth $122 million was signed between Ginkgo Bioworks and a Cronos, a cannabis Company in Canada to create CBD in the lab.
The advantage of CBD synthesis over the plant-based is it’s relatively low cost and can be produced in larger mass. Presumably, the government can easily navigate regulatory hurdles since it’s not sourced from a questionable legal status (Marijuana plant).
According to CBDcentral, CBD, “the non-psychoactive THC is one out of the over 80 compounds found in the marijuana plant. CBD contains less THC (the compound that gets you high), which means it doesn’t give the ‘high’ feeling. It helps reduce seizures from epilepsy (a primary reason why FDA approved it)”.
FDA has approved CBD for the purpose of relieving chronic pain and other severe indications, but this is only backed by anecdotal evidence with zero support from clinical trials. The economic aspect of CBD has gone far wide to be ignored.
CBD is a rapidly-growing sub-section of the cannabis industry, with sales-boosting to up to $367 million in 2014, and predicted to hit $1.3 billion by 2022, as reported by New Frontier Data.
Sales have escalated since last year when Congress passed the farm bill, apparently taking out hemp from federal prohibition.
Now publicly listed retailers such as Walgreens and CVS have plans to sell CBD. While we await this new development, the best way to make a profit with CBD is through patenting. The way to patent it to publicly combine CBD with propriety compound of similar benefits with CBD.
The competition on who’s the first to synthesize is on the way. Although, it’s easier said than done and that’s why no one is yet to do it, but the contest is still in.
The contest is the inspiration behind pharmaceuticals like katexco. These pharmaceuticals mimic the characteristics of CBD which combines with other compounds to produce anti-inflammatory drugs to cure inflammatory diseases like arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
The drugs would go through the clinical test, evaluated and submitted to FDA, exactly how it’s done with other traditional pharmaceuticals. Gone are those days when medical cannabis was about smoking pot. As we are looking forward to the best alternatives of medical cannabis which may be presented as a patented pill, as opposed to the plant-sourced type, arms are crossed on who will emerge the first to break the jinx. (2)
