Innovation within the cannabis industry is reaching new heights as more and more biotech and pharmaceutical companies enter the fray and the amount of cannabis research and development being conducted accelerates.
Cannabis R&D efforts are yielding creative new products and extraction techniques, as well as new methods of manufacturing aimed at making cannabis plant production easier, faster, and higher yielding.
Radical New Growth and Extraction Systems
Among the most noteworthy new manufacturing innovations are two systems developed by Iaso, called GrowBlox and PhytoX. These systems enable manufacturers to grow cannabis plants indoors at higher speed and without human assistance, and afterwards to extract the valuable ingredients from cannabis plants with greater efficiency and precision.
Traditional indoor growing methods require meticulous care and can take almost a full year to yield a successful crop. According to Iaso, GrowBlox can produce five cannabis harvests per year, which would make it the fastest marijuana propagation system on the market.
Along with GrowBlox, Iaso developed PhytoX as a way to optimize the cannabis extraction process for medical purposes. Touted by Iaso as the world’s first hydrodynamic extraction system, PhytoX freezes and pulverizes cannabis plants to maximize yields and increase potency, converting the entire plant into nano-emulsions that are then centrifuged and distilled.
Benefits of Wet Extraction
According to Iaso, PhytoX can perform extraction on wet or dry cannabis, making it capable of producing concentrate from freshly harvested plants. Extracting from wet cannabis plants retains ingredients that are lost in the dry extraction process. In addition, PhtoX’s use of water for extraction eliminates the needs for other solvents.
By speeding up and optimizing the cannabis growth and extraction process, GrowBlox and PhytoX have the potential to revolutionize the cannabis manufacturing industry. Iaso also produces cultures to optimize cannabis growth and is developing a new drug delivery system to be ready this year.
Better Drug Delivery Systems
A number of leading biotech firms are working to develop new ways to extract the active cannabis ingredients and deliver their medically beneficial effects in ingestible and topical forms. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. focuses its R&D on making cannabis medical compounds more absorbable and easily digestible. Lexaria’s process reduces the time of onset for edible cannabis to 15-20 minutes versus the usual 60-120 minutes, and increases absorption by five to 10 times, in addition to masking the bitter taste of cannabinoids without the need to add sugar.
Earth Science Tech, Inc. focuses its R&D on producing high-purity, high-quality cannabidiol (CBD) oil and infusing it in digestible products that provide medical benefits while not producing a psychoactive high. Earth Science Tech’s products include vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, personal care products, homeopathies, and CBD oil delivered in capsules, tablets, soft gels, liquids, creams, sprays, and powders.
Cannabis Pain Relief Innovators
Several companies based in Colorado and California have established reputations for delivering high-quality cannabis products, including unique and effective methods of making cannabis ingestible for pain relief purposes.
Viola Extracts has become a leading producer of butane hash oil (BHO) products for the medical industry. Extracting the active ingredients of cannabis using butane produces pure and potent concentrates that are productized in a variety of forms and consistencies that include oil, shatter, wax, and live resins.
Another cannabis innovator is Foria, which has received a lot of media attention for its sensual cannabis products for women. For medical uses, Foria provides cannabis suppositories that offer relief from menstrual pain as well as back and hip discomfort. The suppositories provide rapid and long-lasting pain relief.
Colorado-based Binske infuses cannabis in a host of high-quality edible and topical products that can be used as an alternative to smoking. Its edibles include chocolate bars, fruit spreads, granola bars, olive oil, and tinctures of garlic, lemon, and chipotle. Its honey products are produced from local bees and can offer pain relief by being ingested in tea. Its topicals include bath salts, body lotion, and massage oils.
Another Colorado-based company providing quality medical cannabis products is Altitude Organic. Its line of edibles includes organic treats such as assorted fruit and brownie bars, as well as organic fruit gummy candies. It also sells an extra strength pain spray called Apothecanna.
All these standout ventures show how the legalization of cannabis, along with its many medical benefits, is causing an increasingly more diverse and sophisticated set of products to be developed, as well as inventive manufacturing techniques. Expect to see further innovation as more and more companies devote their attention to cannabis R&D and as legalized cannabis spreads to ever more states and territories.
As the maker of the most modern, integrated, and scalable cannabis manufacturing management solution, MaxQ has deep cannabis industry expertise. Contact us to learn more about the latest trends and business solutions in the cannabis manufacturing industry.
