Teewinot Life Sciences Corporation is an international biopharmaceutical company, headquartered in Tampa, Florida, which focuses on using novel biosynthetic processes and formulation technologies to produce and deliver cannabinoid-based therapies.
The company’s Irish subsidiary, Full Spectrum Laboratories, Ltd. (FSL), was granted the patent, Chemical Engineering Processes and Apparatus for the Synthesis of Compounds, on December 27, 2016.
According to Teewinot’s CEO, Jeffrey M. Korentur, the patent contains claims directed towards methods used for the biocatalytic manufacture of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and cannabichromenic acid (CBCA) using THCA synthase or CBDA synthase.
“Our methods use the process of biosynthesis to react a starting material, cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), with either THCA synthase or CBDA synthase in order to produce pharmaceutically pure THCA, CBDA, or CBCA,” Korentur told us.
The US Patent No. 9,526,715 is one of four patents that have been issued to the company 2016 as it relates to this process.
“We are the first to produce these molecules at commercial scale and under cGMP conditions using biocatalysis or biosynthesis,” added Korentur.
Cannabinoid manufacturing
According to Korentur, there are currently two methods of producing cannabinoids: chemical synthesis or botanical extracts.
However, he said these methods are time consuming and expensive, and with chemical synthesis, can yield chemical waste.
“The biosynthetic process takes days instead of months to complete, and produces authentic, standardized cannabinoids, and does so at a fraction of the cost of either chemical synthesis or botanical extraction,” Korentur explained.
IP in Ireland
The IP is held by Teewinot’s Irish subsidiary – for “several reasons” said Korentur, though a declining pharma market in the US it not one.
“Physicians and researchers worldwide are looking forward to the development of this new class of medicines to address significant unmet patient needs and to address a wide variety of indications,” he said. “If anything, we see nothing but increasing demand for cannabinoid pharmaceutical developments.”
While FSL own the intellectual property the company does not currently manufacture cannabinoids – instead, it works with contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) or licenses the technology to pharmaceutical companies.