Medicinal cannabis can help with conditions like epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. It can also help manage chronic pain and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
In its 'Oceania Cannabis Report' second edition published in April 2020, Prohibition Partners forecast the value of Australia's cannabis market will jump from around US$40 million in 2020 to US$1.23 billion by 2024.
We’re looking to partner with local manufacturers and innovators of medicinal cannabis to assist them to turn their cannabis crops and resin into medical cannabis products.
Technology
CSIRO has established a secure facility – the Botanical Extracts Lab - in which we undertake commercial research with cannabis products. CSIRO is the only research organisation in Australia that is legally able to conduct such research.
The Botanical Extracts Lab is equipped with several instruments that let us perform high quality cannabinoid and terpene analysis. They allow us to analyse cannabis plant material, cannabis extracts, formulated products and to evaluate medical cannabis delivery devices. The lab also houses a range of extraction equipment, including a supercritical carbon dioxide extractor, and facilities to refine and formulate cannabis extracts.
The lab is also set up for synthetic organic chemistry which enables us to synthesise synthetic cannabinoids.
Applications
We are interested in working with partners and customers to develop manufacturing methods that can lead to the commercial-scale manufacture of medical cannabis products either within the customer’s factory or at third-party contract manufacturers.
The Botanical Extracts Lab offers the medicinal cannabis industry services including:
- extraction of therapeutic ingredients using a range of techniques
- accurate analysis of a wide range of active ingredients and other components
- manufacturing process development
- formulation to improve bioavailability and/or shelf-life
- evaluation of dosing technology and devices
- the design and synthesis of synthetic cannabinoids.
Intellectual property
CSIRO has developed encapsulation technologies that can be used to improve the properties and shelf life of cannabis products, as typified by our work with CannPal.The team
Our work with botanical extracts continues CSIRO’s long tradition of researching plant chemicals which began in the late 1940s. More recently we have worked with small Australian companies such as Peplin Biotech Pty Ltd to bring their botanical extracts to the market and Botanical Resources Australia to maintain their world leading position.
Now the experts at our Botanical Extracts Lab are improving cannabinoid and terpene extraction processes, refinement techniques, cannabinoid formulation for improved bioavailability and shelf life, and developing new synthetic cannabinoid drugs.
Our botanical extracts team commenced researching with cannabis in 2017, the year after medicinal cannabis became legal.
Our Botanical Extracts Lab in Melbourne has been officially listed on the Office of Drug Control’s website, and is a nationally licenced manufacturer and supplier of medicinal cannabis products.