Economic Impact of Biosynthesis on the Cannabis Industry

NEW YORK, October 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a recent Haywood Securities research report, the value of the cannabidiol (CBD) market is expected to hit $2.1 billion by 2020. CBD is just one compound out of more than 90 found within the cannabis plant, though. While many companies with an interest in medicinal marijuana pursue various avenues to extract cannabinoids, InMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CSE: IN) (OTC: IMLFF) (IMLFF Profile) has developed a proprietary process capable of extracting all 90+ cannabinoids in a laboratory setting, eliminating most of the costly requirements that typically come with cannabinoid extraction. To understand the value of this process, it helps to take a look at the methods utilized by other industry players such as GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH) and Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYNE), as well as the challenges of high-volume cannabis cultivators like Aurora Cannabis, Inc. (TSX: ACB) (OTC: ACBFF) and Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX: WEED) (OTC: TWMJF).

Fueled by mounting increases in consumer demand and expanding legalization, the race is on to find a cost effective method of extracting medicinal-grade cannabinoids. To glean pharmaceutically-viable cannabinoid compounds, cannabis must first be physically grown in quantity. Then, the cannabinoids are extracted and processed in an attempt to meet the exacting purity levels required by regulatory standards. Sourcing cannabinoids naturally requires planting, growing, harvesting, extracting and purifying huge quantities of plants. Breath of Life Pharma, recently featured in a Rolling Stone article, had to dedicate one million square feet of cannabis cultivation space in order to produce enough raw flower for its extraction business. Producing compounds from plant extracts is time consuming and expensive, and, despite cultivating thousands of tons of cannabis, most companies in this arena can only produce a couple of the 90+ cannabinoids present in the plant. Many cannabinoids are found only in trace amounts and will never be accessible or economically feasible with current extraction methods.

Dedicated real-estate, facility maintenance and operating costs are all requisite for cultivation, making cannabinoid production a cumbersome and costly business. There are also ongoing concerns with growers resorting to the use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides to produce healthier crops and improve yields. Such actions can introduce toxic substances into edible and pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid extracts.