The cannabis industry is a fast-growing field and an important emerging market for Agilent. A full cannabis lab can have multiple workflows that cover everything from liquid and gas chromatography to mass spectrometry to genomics.
As with any food or drug manufacturer, cannabis growers and testers must ensure their products are safe, effective, and unadulterated. They must also meet strict industry regulations. For example, regions that have legalized the use of medicinal or recreational marijuana typically require that the “total amount” of drug ingredients including THC and CBD, be quantified.
To expand our market reach, and also to learn more about our potential customers, our marketing team recently held a competition for cultivators, processors, and testing labs. We asked them to tell us more about their pain points, their struggles, and what was impacting their ability to be successful. The grand-prize winner in each category received the free use of an Agilent 1260 Infinity II LC System for one year (see our May 27 press release here).
We spoke with the winners to learn a bit more about their labs, and thoughts about the industry and the challenges they face (comments edited for brevity).
Tell us a bit about you and your role.
Kersten: My career prior to Verda Bio was as a clinic research nurse, and my co-founder worked in biotechnology. We use a combination of scientific tools to discover, develop, and bring to market novel cannabinoid-based products. My role is to do whatever needs to be done – plant care, administrative, operations, and customer service. Most days my to-do list is really, really long. But I love what I do!
Eric: I am the lab analyst for Jushi’s Pennsylvania Medical Solutions located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Day to day, I analyze in-process samples for cannabinoid potency to help monitor our daily operations. This includes testing biomass, decarboxylated biomass, oil extractions, distillates, and a variety of formulations.
Nick: I am the lab director at Origo Labs. I manage the broader, long-term goals of the lab such as implementing and validating new test protocols, handling procurement, and consulting with customers to understand the science behind new products or poor test results for better outcomes in the future.
How did you come to be in the cannabis field?
Kersten: I became interested in cannabinoids due to an incurable illness my co-founder suffers from. Then, shortly after Verda Bio was founded, my 80-year-old mother approached me wanting help with her painful arthritis. She was just told she could no longer take her oral anti-inflammatory medications. As a nurse, I had to find a way to help. Basic Jane, our first topical product, was introduced in 2017 after years of research and development. In founding Verda Bio, my goal was to create a research company to determine if cannabinoids can offer relief to patients like Jessica and my mom.
Eric: My journey began when I graduated in 2015 with a chemistry degree. I worked in the nutritional-product industry for about five years. Then Pennsylvania legalized medical cannabis, and the job market began to open up in the industry across the state. I applied for a job at Jushi as a lab analyst in early 2021, and this started my career in the cannabis field.
Nick: I finished my chemistry Ph.D. in 2019 and was looking for a role where I could use my scientific background but also work in a strategy-focused position. I was actually in line at a dispensary in January 2020 after Illinois legalized marijuana when I was contacted on LinkedIn by a recruiter for this job! I had never thought of joining the cannabis industry, but when I understood the opportunity to bring some scientific rigor into this Wild West of a field, it was the perfect fit.
Why is there so much concern regarding cannabis testing?
Kersten: Cannabinoid levels vary greatly in plants. It is impossible to know the exact level of THC, CBD, or other cannabinoids in a plant without testing. As researchers we need to test every new plant variety we breed; we cannot simply look at a plant and know if it will create CBD, THCV, or THC. We need quick, reliable testing methods to enable creation of new plant varieties and ultimately consumer products with specific cannabinoid content. The only way to know the content of a cannabis plant or product is to test the material accurately.
Eric: I believe a lack of consistent regulation across the industry from state to state can produce gaps in the label claim for products. It is extremely important for businesses to test their products at credible labs to provide a clear picture for what consumers are buying. We want to provide the safest product for our consumers at Jushi and are required by the state to use trusted third-party labs for our products.
Nick: Cannabis testing labs are the only part of the supply chain that can truly affect public health and safety. Until federal oversight happens, there are very few external controls in place to monitor the quality of cannabis, which for many is a prescribed medication. Testing labs need to focus on consistency, veracity, and transparency to inspire public trust in the industry and be a backstop for unethical practices.
How important is the role of a HPLC system for testing?
Kersten: It’s extremely important as it can accurately test the cannabinoid content of samples. This will enable us to quickly test samples accurately with a cost-effective method. HPLC allows us to get our data faster since we currently rely on a third party to perform our testing. Our goal is to test plants we create to determine if we should keep them in our breeding pool. An inaccurate test could lead us to remove a plant erroneously and cost us years of research.
Eric: HPLC testing instruments are extremely important. They provide a clear picture of what cannabinoids are present in the products that we sell to medical consumers. We can use this to create formulations for a variety of product applications. Also, being able to monitor our processes with a quick turnaround time is crucial for being able to meet customer demand and steer our processes.
Nick: HPLCs are the jumping-off point for anyone interested in cannabis potency, from small growers to independent testing labs and state auditors. Accurate and consistent potency results are extremely important in determining dosages for ingested products like RSOs (Rick Simpson Oil) and gummies. Extreme care in sample preparation is the most important piece to the testing puzzle, but ultimately you need to have absolute confidence in the HPLC generating your final results.
How did you first learn about Agilent?
Kersten: Through a webinar a year or two ago where Agilent discussed cannabinoid testing.
Eric: In my college’s analytical laboratory where we had an Agilent GC-MS and an Agilent 1100 series HPLC. I also worked in an analytical lab that held several Agilent HPLC systems.
Nick: I used an Agilent 6890 GC in my college classes. It has been a long road for me since then, but Agilent continues to produce some of the most reliable, flexible instrumentation in the analytical space.
What are your thoughts on the future of cannabis?
Kersten: At Verda Bio, we have been active in changing cannabis-research legislation. We have worked on three pieces of legislation enabling the research of cannabinoids in Washington state. We have fought hard to obtain one of the first cannabis-research licenses in the country. We foresee cannabis being used by more individuals for recreational, medical, and wellness purposes.
Eric: I am excited for the future of the cannabis industry. Every month I hear another state legalizing medical or recreational cannabis. I hope we can see federal legalization within the next few years! The collaboration across state lines will open a lot of innovative science that can help a lot of people. I am also excited to see what type of innovative products or medicines that will develop across the cannabis industry in the upcoming years.
Nick: The cannabis industry will continue to grow as more individuals discover the benefits of the plant and more companies develop different and more convenient forms of consumption. However, cannabis is an extremely complex matrix and taking full advantage of its potential benefits will take dedicated scientists doing research. We hope to use the platform of cannabis testing to advance this field of science and in the meantime, advocate for the removal of federal roadblocks to make academic research more accessible.
What is one misconception about the cannabis field you’d like to clear up?
Kersten: A big misconception is that people only use cannabis for recreational purposes. Some people do; however, more and more people are using cannabinoids for medical or wellness reasons.
Eric: I believe a lot of people perceive cannabis as something that makes people lazy or brain-dead. However, this is far from the truth – cannabis can be used as a medicine to help treat people. Cannabis products may not help everyone, but I have seen a lot of people who have had positive results from using cannabis as medicine. I believe the future of cannabis research will help even more people with the development of innovative products and medicines.
Nick: Consumers should be aware that just because a lab is licensed and ISO-certified does not automatically mean they can produce consistent, accurate results. A cannabinoid method with a 50% margin of error could be seen as just as valid as one with a 5% MOE unless the state regulates and enforces criteria that labs must meet. Medical patients should ask for certificates of analysis at the point of sale and do some research on state testing labs (or even ask for a visit!).
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