Cannabis and Biotech Companies Agree to Landmark Partnership

Mainstream investors and major corporations are seeing the value of the cannabis industry as big investment news stories are breaking every week, if not every few days, as Canada marches toward its October 17th legalization date. While stocks are still volatile, it appears that many are seeing the growth potential of the burgeoning industry. Partnerships with alcohol companies have been the rage recently, but Canadian cannabis Company Cronos Group just reached a rather unique partnership worth over $100 million with Gingko Bioworks, a biotech company to produce cannabinoids in a lab, as Bloomberg explained:

Boston-based Ginkgo, which has a 100,000-square-foot lab in the city, got its start creating scents for the fragrance industry. In a process similar to brewing beer, it takes the DNA code that makes a rose smell like a rose, for example, and transfers it into brewer’s yeast.

“Now when you brew it up in that same brewery, instead of beer coming out, rose oil will come out,” said Jason Kelly, CEO of closely held Ginkgo, who has a PhD in bio-engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s cheaper, it’s not subject to weather conditions, the price isn’t all over the place, it’s not different if you grow it in Morocco or somewhere else, it’s just a much better product.”

The technology’s application to the cannabis industry is clear, said Gorenstein. For example, a compound called tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV, acts as an appetite suppressant, potentially offsetting the “munchies” effect of pot. It appears in very small quantities in the cannabis plant, making it difficult and expensive to produce at scale. Using Ginkgo’s technology, pure THCV can be produced in a lab.

Cronos’ partnership with Gingko, who has worked with Bayer AG, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., and Cargill Inc., is another example of the mainstreaming of cannabis and how well-established companies are starting to warmly view the industry. Whether this partnership works out well for both parties or not, it seems clear that it is just the latest, promising sign that the future of the overall cannabis industry is looking very bright.

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn the latest information and trends and the chance to network with top investors and entrepreneurs from around the globe at the International Cannabis Business Conference in Portland, Oregon, this September 27th-28th. Purchase your “early bird” tickets by September 12th to save $200!