The firm’s Irish subsidiary Teewinot Technologies – formerly Full Spectrum Laboratories – announced the US State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had granted Patent No. 9,879,292, earlier this week.
Patent ‘292 covers the firm’s synthetic biology approach to making tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), cannabichromenic acid (CBCA) and cannabichromenic acid (CBCA) in different ratios for cannabinoids and cannabinoid analogs.
This is the second US patent granted to Teewinot in 2018.
Last month, Teewinot announced the USPTO had granted Patent No. 9,861,609 covering methods for producing cannabinoids and cannabinoid analogs, as well as a system for producing these compounds.
Biosynthetic cannabinoids
Executive vice president Richard Peet told us these additional patents bring the firms’ US count to seven with claims directed to the manufacture of biosynthetic cannabinoids.
Teewinot’s biosynthetic processes use genes cloned from the cannabis plant that code for enzymes, to make cannabinoids, Peet told us.
“We make the cannabinoids in yeast or other microorganisms – using synthetic biology or by means of biocatalysis – and can now make 18 different naturally occurring cannabinoids,” he added.
Peet said these cannabinoids have the exact same stereochemical structure as cannabinoids produced in cannabis.
Teewinot has similarly filed these patents globally, including in Europe, Canada, Japan and China.
Manufacturing
Peet said Teewinot is looking to manufacture in the US and Ireland, before conducting in-house clinical trials.
The firm has collaborated with contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) Albany Molecular (AMRI) in New York state to make cannabinoids in the US.
Teewinot also plans to manufacture in the Ireland, but did not disclose the partnering CMO.
“We may use a contract research organisation (CRO) for some of the preclinical trials, but we’ll be doing the clinical trials ourselves,” he said.
Teewinot is open to collaborating with drug firms, said Peet: “We are looking for pharmaceutical companies that are interested in partnering with us, to take one or more of our molecules forward.”