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Bruker and Purity-IQ Partner to Transform Cannabis Regulatory Landscape
Bruker and Purity-IQ announced their joint partnership with a goal to create a new testing system aimed at helping the medical cannabis industry in Canada.
In a recent press release, Bruker (Billerica, Massachusetts) and Purity-IQ (Mississauga, Canada) announced their joint partnership with a goal to create a new testing system aimed at helping the medical cannabis industry in Canada (1). The Purity-IQ Cannabis Fingerprint incorporates Bruker’s expertise in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) based screening technology with Purity-IQ’s genomics capabilities to provide traceability and identity testing throughout the cannabis supply chain.
Currently, there are no standardized regulations in effect between states or countries to regulate quality control in cannabis. Without these regulations in place, it makes it difficult for consumers to make informed decisions about the products they are buying. According to the two companies, uniting these technologies will help give the supply chain an opportunity to progress the cannabis industry forward to a consistent and compliant platform.
With regulatory standards continuously shifting, cannabis producers and manufacturers need to be able to ensure product quality and consistency of strain and dosage. Also affected are the retailers such as pharmacies and dispensaries who need to protect their brand and offer consumers a product that can be trusted.
According to the press release, identifying the genomic profile and chemical compounds in a cannabis cultivar is the key to being able to ensure dosing assurance and consistent quality. Genomics are used to establish cannabis identity and heredity. NMR identifies the consistency and purity of the product at a molecular level, which offers traceability, authenticity, and identity throughout the supply chain from plant to finished product. This creates a unique chemical “fingerprint,” using the Purity-IQ Global Cannabis Registry to devise new Cannabis Authenticity and Purity Standards (CAPS).
In addition, the announcement stressed the advantages of using NMR compared to other technologies available on the market. NMR is an untargeted analysis method that reportedly provides an extensive view on the metabolome. With the use of NMR, it allows for an easier determination of the relative concentration of substances in a mixture accurately and rapidly.
“A genetic fingerprint alone is not enough to produce a full picture. To generate a complete fingerprint, cannabis strains must also be profiled using NMR technology,” said Dr. Henry Stronks, President of Bruker Canada, in the press release (1). “Pattern recognition allows us to identify peaks that correspond to the pharmacological properties of the cannabis, its geographical location, strain, hybrid and quality. We believe this is the first step for the cannabis industry in providing safe, uniform and effective products founded in combined genomics and metabolomics testing.”
Terry Dennis, Chief Marketing Officer at Purity-IQ also commented on the collaboration with Bruker (1). “CAPS recognition will identify and differentiate products, build intellectual property, ensure authenticity, drive confidence in product quality claims, allow access to new markets, and protect brand reputation. There is a whole host of other sectors that would benefit from the combination of genetic and metabolomic fingerprinting, particularly in the food and beverage industry in the fight against food fraud,” said Dennis. “This will support the whole value chain and, one day, consumers will have full transparency, trust and confidence in all products they buy.”
Through this newly formed partnership, both Bruker and Purity-IQ plan to apply their technology to better aid the cannabis industry and promote consistency along with compliancy. Bruker’s 400 MHz NMR spectrometer and its Fourier 80 benchtop NMR system are installed at the University of Guelph in Canada, where Bruker’s and Purity-IQ’s scientists plan to collaborate in research and development with the Natural Health Products (NHP) Research Alliance. The NHP is a collaborative body based at the University of Guelph, creating novel DNA-based ingredient identity tools founded on a global standard biological reference materials DNA library for natural health products.