Nextleaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) (OTCQB:OILFF) (FRA:L0MA) said it has won another US patent.
The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company a patent relating to a novel synthetic route of modifying tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in cannabis distillate into a more potent prodrug version of THC-O-acetate.
Nextleaf said it believes the THC-derived prodrug produced under its patented process may hold significant potential as a therapeutic product due to THC-O-acetate reportedly having pronounced psychedelic effects compared to THC.
READ: Nextleaf Solutions receives licence amendment allowing it to sell its cannabis products directly to provinces
The company noted that it may lead to positive outcomes in the treatment of chronic pain, PTSD, and alcohol use disorder.
"The U.S. continues to be the focal point of our global IP strategy," said Nextleaf CEO Paul Pedersen. "Between operating our cannabinoid innovation lab under strict federal regulations in Canada where cannabis is federally legal and owning one of the largest U.S. patent portfolios of any cannabis company, Nextleaf has the type of robust intellectual property portfolio and scalable commercial platform that large pharmaceuticals and big tobacco companies have already targeted with M&A in 2021."
Meanwhile, the company noted that New York last month became the 16th state to legalize cannabis, increasing pressure on the US to progress federal marijuana reform and it is expected that legislation will be reintroduced and voted on with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer leading the way.
"This U.S. patent covers our method of THC acetylation and follows our previous patent for synthesizing THC-O-acetate, with improvements to reaction efficiencies," said Nextleaf R&D Lead, Dr David Novitski. "Our latest patented method reduces processing time and costs, which are critical when scaling up any drug delivery technology, and THC-O-acetate is no different."
Nextleaf said it is exploring opportunities to commercialize this patent through intellectual property (IP) licensing to a pharmaceutical partner or producing and distributing THC-O-acetate as a therapeutic product under the company's Health Canada licenses.
"To the best of our knowledge, Nextleaf is the first company in the world, publicly traded or private, to be issued patents for the production of THC-O-Acetate, a specialty molecule not legally available anywhere in the world," said CEO Pedersen.
Nextleaf now owns 13 US patents and 70 patents globally for the extraction, purification, and delivery of cannabinoids.
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