Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 15, 2021) - Nextleaf Solutions Ltd. (CSE: OILS) (OTCQB: OILFF) (FSE: L0MA) ("Nextleaf", "OILS", or the "Company"), the world's most innovative cannabis processor, is pleased to announce that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the Company a patent pertaining to a novel synthetic route of modifying Tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC") found in cannabis distillate into a more potent prodrug version of THC-O-acetate.
The Company 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, and positive outcomes in the treatment of chronic pain, PTSD, and alcohol use disorder.
(left to right) Dr. Xuan Jia, Paul Pedersen, Ryan Ko, Dr. David Novitski, Keenan Sindia
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"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."
On March 31, 2021 New York became the 16th state to legalize cannabis. The event increases pressure on the United States to progress federal marijuana reform and it is expected that legislation will be reintroduced and voted on with the 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 Solutions 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 is exploring opportunities to commercialize this patent through 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 Pedersen.
About Nextleaf®
Nextleaf is an innovative cannabis processor that owns one of the largest portfolios of U.S. patents for the extraction, distillation, and delivery of cannabinoids. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Nextleaf Labs Ltd, a licensed processor, the Company is a low-cost producer of cannabis distillate and private label THC & CBD oils. Nextleaf's proprietary closed-loop automated extraction plant in Metro Vancouver has a design capacity to process 600 kilos of dried cannabis into oil per day. The Company owns 13 U.S. patents and has been issued over 70 patents globally. Nextleaf is developing delivery technology through its Health Canada Research Licence with sensory evaluation of cannabis via human testing. The Company's patent pending RAPID Emulsion Technology by OILS™ powers differentiated ingestible cannabis products.
Nextleaf Solutions trades as OILS on the Canadian Securities Exchange, OILFF on the OTCQB Market in the United States, and L0MA on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
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www.nextleafsolutions.com
For more information please contact:
Jason McBride
604-283-2301 (ext. 219)
investors@nextleafsolutions.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company,
Paul Pedersen, CEO
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's ability to capitalize on its IP portfolio, the Company's strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to the risk factors discussed in the Company's MD&A for the most recent fiscal period. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law. The CSE has not reviewed or approved the contents of this press release.
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