Cronos Group Inc. plans to release the first lab-grown cannabis products to the Canadian recreational market later this year, a move that could usher in a new wave of cheap pot that isn't derived from the plant at all.
While Cronos Executive Chairman Mike Gorenstein didn't provide specifics, he said this year the company will commercially release products containing cannabinoids created using biosynthesis, an engineering process similar to brewing beer that can make THC and CBD for pennies on the dollar.
"Ultimately, the cannabinoids are the same whether they're coming from the plant or from fermentation," Gorenstein said in an interview. "They're completely fungible. It's just when you use the rare cannabinoids, you're able to get them in a higher quantity from fermentation than from cultivation."
Biosynthesis essentially uses simple organisms like bacteria or yeast and coaxes them to become tiny factories that can pump out high-value chemicals like those found in the cannabis plant. The process can then be scaled to create pure cannabis molecules could be made for as low as 10 cents a gram, a fraction of what it costs to grow cannabis plants in high-end indoor facilities, according to a recent report by Raymond James.
Read more at bnnbloomberg.ca