Willow Biosciences to expand fermentation manufacturing network

VANCOUVER — Willow Biosciences Inc. has said it will expand its production capacity with a new manufacturing partnership.

Willow Biosciences is a biotechnology company focused on industrial manufacturing of molecules traditionally derived from plants.

The company’s expansion of its fermentation manufacturing network comes after signing a second Contract Development Manufacturing Organization or CDMO. Under this agreement, Willow will increase its capacity to produce products under the FutureGrown brand, including products like cannabigerol or CBG.

Willow’s new partner has a history in the large-scale production of food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products and holds all necessary certifications to serve these markets.

This new CDMO partnership allows Willow to accommodate new programs, both internal and partnered, in addition to its cannabinoid portfolio.

“with the unprecedented demand for precision fermentation assets, having a global network of CDMOs with diverse capabilities is an absolute requirement. The addition of this premier CDMO with large scale fermentation assets will ensure Willow’s manufacturing capabilities can readily expand to meet market demand,” said Willow’s COO Dr. Chris Savile in a statement.

The company has completed the first stage of the toxicological assessment of its FutureGrown CBG product for oral product applications.

According to Willow, the assessment concluded that FutureGrown CBG was non-mutagenic, non-clastogenic, non-genotoxic, which is the first step toward concluding Willow’s FutureGrown CBG as “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) determination in the United States. Willow is engaging AIBMR Life Sciences Inc. to perform the toxicology studies.

Willow produces its FutureGrown CBG through precision fermentation, which the company says reduces production time and its carbon footprint when compared to traditionally grown cannabis extracts.