CANNAINVESTOR Magazine May / June 2017 | Page 226

And Lexaria did not rest there: it now has a patent portfolio of 18 patents pending, including utilizing its technology to develop non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), certain vitamins, and even nicotine. The benefits of delivering those compounds via edible formats that include pills and capsules at a far higher absorption rate than currently possible are immense, considering that thousands of people die each year from complications of over the counter NSAID use; and millions of people die each year from the diseases caused by cigarette smoking.

The irony is not lost: technology developed originally to aid cannabis absorption has the potential to lead to the world’s first edible forms of other drugs that could save millions of lives. Of course, had governments not banned research into cannabis decades ago, we will never know how many millions of consumers might not have died needlessly.

For the first time ever, huge amounts of capital are flowing into the legal cannabis sector. Companies like Lexaria Bioscience and others have benefited immensely from that and many investors have experienced profitable windfalls. With financial capital already received, it was inevitable that intellectual capital would not be far behind. And just as Elon Musk has forever transformed the auto industry with his courageous willingness to think outside of traditional methods and adopt and create new technology, new GI absorption technology is threatening to transform the emerging cannabis industry and deliver superior products to millions of consumers.

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