Minor cannabinoids have been gathering interest among growers and extractors over the past year, with research on CBG, CBN, CBC and THC-V showing unique health benefits for consumers.

But are consumers even aware of these molecules and is there demand in the marketplace? And are there genetics available that can yield enough of these minor cannabinoids to make them worth the investment?

Jonathan Vaught, CEO and founder of Front Range Biosciences, a hemp and cannabis genetics producer in Lafayette, Colorado, said that although consumer awareness and interest is still in the early stages, the genetics are coming online for growers to begin producing hemp for minor cannabinoids.

His company is launching a new line of THC-V genetics in collaboration with partners in the marijuana space in California and Colorado as well as working on developing THC-V genetics along with genetics that are dominant in other minor cannabinoids.

Hemp Industry Daily caught up with Vaught to discuss his viewpoints on the future of minor cannabinoids.

How does THC-V differ from other minor cannabinoids?

THC-V is a separate molecule than THC or CBD. It’s very closely related structurally to THC – it’s just got a different side chain on it, so it makes it a different molecule than THC – either delta-9 or delta-8 or other cannabinoids.

That being said, THC-V has been rarely observed … and it’s generally produced at fairly low levels because, for multiple reasons, biologically, it’s a mutation in the pathway that allows it to produce THC-V.

Most plants that do have this mutation generally don’t produce very much, and when they do – if they’re bred to produce that much – then the plants are generally fairly poor performing. They don’t produce very good weight, they don’t produce high overall cannabinoids and terpenes, they’re just generally not very easy plants to grow and produce.

With the technology that we’ve developed, we are now unlocking that. There’s a variety that’s producing 20% plus total cannabinoids and it’s close to 1:1 THC-V to THC. That’s why the first launch, with our partners out in California, are taking this to market in the regulated cannabis space there.

So that’s just Step One – biologically, it makes more sense for high THC-V to be in the cannabis bucket. We are working on helping develop hemp-compliant versions, as well, but because of the biology, it is more challenging.

We’re discovering things about the genome and about how this plant works, from an underlying biology perspective, that will enable us to directly develop hemp-compliant versions of high-THC-V-producing plants as well.

What excites you most about THC-V, for both consumers and the industry?

We see THC-V as such an interesting cannabinoid. People are reporting really exciting characteristics – things like appetite suppression, stimulant qualities and a less-intoxicating type of experience.

This is a really exciting new ingredient from a consumer-product perspective because it really can begin to change the landscape of the type of experiences that are available to consumers through cannabis.

By improving not only the total amount of THC-V that gets produced in the plant but also some of the other characteristics – high terpenes and total cannabinoids – it produces more weight and more flower, and it’s more vigorous.

Those are all the things that are going to make it easier for growers to produce this and introduce it in the supply chain.

So, you combine that with the excitement on the consumer-product side and the opportunity for brands and consumer cannabis products to be available that provide customers new experiences – that combination is what is so exciting here.

And I think we’re honestly just getting started.

How aware would you say consumers are about THC-V and other minor cannabinoids, and do you feel that the market for minor cannabinoids has improved over the past year?

In general, it’s been somewhat elusive to growers and breeders and in the supply chain, so you just don’t see a lot of THC-V products out in the market yet – consumers generally don’t know much about it.

There’s a fair amount to learn about it from a consumer education and total market perspective, but it’s the same for other cannabinoids, too.

You could say the same thing about CBD six or seven years ago. … All that changed once it was discovered that there’s a real medical benefit, and now CBD is a whole industry.

Growers have been excited about some of the minor cannabinoids, but they’ve held back because the genetics haven’t been there or they weren’t sure of the demand. Is it safe to go ahead and start growing for minors now?

The underlying philosophy is the same for all cannabis growers. A lot of companies learned this the hard way, but, generally speaking, before you grow something, you want to know where that crop is going to go, right? What is your market for the end-use product? Is it a flower crop? Is it a CBG crop? Is it a THC crop?

If you look at it through the lens of traditional agriculture and other crops and other supply chains, it really is about, is there a market, who’s going to buy it, and what are the reasons they’re going to buy it for? And that’s why growers should be growing things.

How do minor cannabinoids fit within the growing wellness category?

I think there’s a huge opportunity.

It’s a big trend on the consumer side but also from the medical research side that we can be healthier as a society and as people if we eat better, if we take things that are more preventative in terms of wellness versus waiting to have a real problem and then trying to treat it.

We know that the endocannabinoid receptor system is throughout almost every major organ system in our body, and we know that it’s involved in a number of different physiologic processes that are happening in our bodies that either affect disease or wellness.

Combine that with the fact that there are well over 130 unique cannabinoids produced in this plant – maybe even more at this point – and some we haven’t even discovered.

Also, cannabinoids have been generally safe compounds. There are no reported examples of extreme adverse events or deaths, and there are limited clinical studies. But in the ones that are out there, cannabinoids seem to be fairly safe.

So all that together is the recipe for an incredibly exciting area of growth in the wellness sector.

How could companies developing synthetic cannabinoids affect the market for naturally occurring minor cannabinoids?

I think there’s room for both in the supply chain.

If you’re talking about an active pharmaceutical ingredient that needs to be 99% pure, there may be applications where synthetic biology is the right way to support that supply chain.

Whereas, if you look at a full-spectrum or a broad-spectrum extract, that’s more of a wellness product.

You don’t want a pure compound. You’re looking for the combination of cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes – and the other amazing things that are found in this plant – all together in a consumable package.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Laura Drotleff can be reached at [email protected]

This story first appeared at Marijuana Business Daily.

The development of new genetic-editing technology offers cannabis companies a cost-effective way to make specific changes to marijuana and hemp plants – such as more disease resistance – without creating a genetically modified organism.

The technology, known as Crispr-Cas9, will allow the cannabis industry to build new, improved plants that promise to introduce hardiness and efficiencies into cultivation.

That, in turn, could boost profits.

Developed by Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna, the Crispr-Cas9 gene-editing technique revolutionizes genetic engineering in many fields, including medicine and agriculture.

They were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work.

In the case of cannabis, Crispr gene editing can produce new testable strains within a matter of weeks – unlike previous, more manual techniques.

Some possible changes to the cannabis genome include:

• Disease resistance: Large-scale agriculture is susceptible to various pests and diseases. The technique should provide a way to quickly create resistant plants.
• Climate tolerance: Climate change will alter how cannabis is grown in the coming decades. Plants that can withstand a wider range of temperature and daylight will be valuable as that occurs.
• Increased trichomes: Researchers are trying to increase the trichome density on the plants as a way to boost the production of terpenes and cannabinoids.
• Terpene manipulation: Changing the terpene makeup of a plant could provide a way to create distinctive and brandable cannabis products.
• CBD-to-THC ratio: Hemp producers use the gene-editing technique to inhibit or eliminate the production of THC in the plants. It can also be used to manipulate the creation of CBD.
• Biomass improvements: The ability to create specific traits and improvements to non-THC and CBD producing biomass of plants could help increase cultivator profits by minimizing plant waste.
• Plant-wide THC production: In the vein of biomass improvements, work has already begun on the development of marijuana plants that produce THC in more parts of the plant.
• Novel cannabinoid production: As the industry begins to understand cannabinoids other than THC and CBD, look for gene editing to be at the forefront of manipulating plants to produce them.

The Crispr-Cas9 process creates new DNA but technically does not create a genetically modified organism (GMO) because it does not introduce foreign DNA to the plant.

The process works by removing the section of the DNA the cultivator is hoping to change.

In addition, a guide piece of RNA is created and attached to an enzyme called Cas9.

Together, these two elements make up the Crispr tool.

The tool finds the targeted section of DNA while the enzyme cuts out the section as scissors would. New genetic material is introduced and attaches to the missing segment.

Companies are already using the technique to manipulate hemp and marijuana plants.

Evergreen, Colorado-based Ebbu, which was acquired by Canada-based Canopy Growth Corp. in 2018, was an early adopter of gene-editing techniques to try to produce single-cannabinoid strains, among other traits.

CanBreed, an Israeli company focused on developing genetically stable seeds, licensed the Crispr technology to enhance the traits of those seeds.

In late 2020, CanBreed announced the purchase of a 3.5-acre farm in San Diego.

An executive from international CBD brand Elixinol has been appointed to the board of directors at the U.S. Hemp Authority — one of the industry’s self-regulatory bodies.

“From the start, Elixinol has gone above and beyond when it comes to product efficacy and transparency,” Elixinol CEO for the Americas Tom Siciliano said about his appointment.

“Our involvement with the Authority further solidifies our commitment to quality and higher standards.”

Siciliano recently served as president of Nutritional High International Inc., a marijuana manufacturing and distribution company, and as president and CFO for Canna Security America.

Prior to his work in the cannabis industry, Siciliano worked at startup companies, private equity firms and public Fortune 500 companies.

Siciliano’s appointment is part of the Hemp Authority’s advocacy partnership with the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, where Siciliano is also a board member.

North Carolina CBD maker cbdMD has hired Sibyl Swift, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official as a consultant to lead the company’s regulatory efforts and prepare products for certifications.

Swift served in various roles at the FDA from 2014 to 2020, most notably as the associate director for research and strategy in the agency’s Office of Dietary Supplement Programs, where she worked on science, research, compliance, enforcement and policy initiatives.

In 2020, Swift served as the senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs for the Natural Products Association, where she addressed regulatory policies related to new drug investigation (NDI) notifications, FDA guidance and claims substantiation.

cbdMD chairman and co-CEO Marty Sumichrast said Swift’s experience and new role demonstrates the company’s commitment to meeting “the highest regulatory standards for quality and safety.”

cbdMD Inc. trades on the NYSE as CBDMD.

(A version of this story originally appeared at Marijuana Business Daily and will be updated.)

An Irish pharmaceutical firm, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, has agreed to purchase United Kingdom-based GW Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest medical cannabinoid companies in the world, for $7.2 billion, the drug companies said Wednesday.

The proposed cash-and-stock deal would be the largest acquisition in the cannabis industry to date and a key move by a pharmaceutical company into cannabis. GW created the only plant-derived cannabis medicine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Epidiolex.

It could also could spur increased research and development into the burgeoning field.

Under the terms of the transaction, each GW shareholder would receive $200 in cash and $20 in Jazz ordinary shares for each GW American Depositary Share, resulting in an aggregate consideration of $7.2 billion.

“What we’ve been able to demonstrate at GW over the last 20 years is that the cannabinoid platform is a real and compelling science,” Justin Gover, CEO of GW Pharmaceuticals, told analysts during a conference call.

“There is very significant growth potential within the approved indications.”

GW’s main product is Epidiolex, which the company said achieved approximately $510 million in annual sales within two years of its launch.

Epidiolex has been approved in certain countries for the treatment of certain seizure disorders.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals CEO Bruce Cozadd sees opportunity to expand sales in Europe.

“This product is not that far into its launch. The GW team has done an excellent job, but there is lots of room to grow in the existing indications, including THC, which was fairly recent,” Cozadd told analysts.

“Similarly, there is lots of room in Europe. If you look at other product launches in this space, that’s what we’ve seen over time, as physicians get more and more comfortable with the use of these agents in these patients that really need a different therapy to get additional benefit.”

Gover said there is unlocked opportunity beyond Epidiolex.

“It’s not just Epidiolex. For each one of the pipeline assets, we’ve been very thoughtful about the exclusivity approach,” he said. “We understand and appreciate good medicine needs to primarily be transformative for patients, but it also needs to … return value to investors.

“There is still more to come, even with Epidiolex itself. This is an IP estate that is going to continue to build.”

The proposed deal has already been approved by the respective companies’ boards and is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.

Before the GW deal, Jazz Pharmaceuticals had said it expected to report revenue between $2.32 billion to $2.38 billion in 2020.

Diverging strategies

The Jazz-GW transaction highlights diverging strategies by some large companies when it comes to deploying capital in medical cannabinoids.

GW differentiated itself in the field of medical cannabis by developing a suite of products via traditional regulatory-approval pathways, including through expensive clinical trials. GW became the largest medical cannabinoid company in the world in the process.

The UK company’s R&D spending amounted to $290.5 million in 2019 and the first three quarters of fiscal 2020.

GW employs 278 people in research and development, more than the 192 people involved in manufacturing and operations.

The company has exported its products to more than 30 countries, according to financial disclosures, for either commercial or research purposes.

GW’s intellectual-property portfolio includes 767 issued patents outside the United States and 57 issued patents in the U.S., according to the company’s annual disclosure.

Additionally, the company said it has 259 pending patent applications worldwide.

Issued or pending claims cover:

• Plants.
• Plant extracts.
• Extraction technology.
• Pharmaceutical formulations.
• Drug delivery.
• The therapeutic uses of cannabinoids.
• Plant-variety rights.

GW leases three growing facilities in the United Kingdom, measuring a combined 2.1 million square feet in size.

In December, Canopy initiated a lawsuit against GW in U.S. federal court, alleging that the U.K. company knowingly infringed upon Canopy’s intellectual property.

According to a complaint, GW uses a Canopy-patented method to extract the CBD that’s the active ingredient in its Epidiolex medication.

In a statement emailed to Marijuana Business Daily that month, GW said that, “based on our preliminary review of the complaint, we are confident in our position and will vigorously defend against this lawsuit.”

GW trades on the Nasdaq as GWPH. Jazz trades on the Nasdaq as JAZZ.

Matt Lamers is Marijuana Business Daily’s international editor, based near Toronto. He can be reached at [email protected].