Cannabis Laboratory Product Roundup

A look back at 2021 and the product forecast for 2022

Although US retain sales were high, 2020 was challenged with turbulence and setbacks for the industry due to supply chain and logistic issues. The turn of 2021 ushered in the promise of further legal and political developments, and a host of new products ready for launch. Throughout the course of 2021, a range of products were released, some of which we explored in areas including: remote monitoring and potency testing, cannabinoid purification, microbial detection, and others.

As conferences continue to transition back to live formats, we take some time to preview upcoming shows, exhibitors, and the forecast for new products in 2022.

The Cannabis Science Conference West will be hosted at the Long Beach Convention Center February 2-4, 2022. In addition to testing, cultivation, hemp, and scientific research tracks, this conference includes expanded academic cannabis and pharmaceutical cannabis sessions. Exhibitors include:

• Shimadzu – As a title sponsor, Shimadzu brings a huge portfolio of testing and quality control instruments and solutions to the cannabis discussion. Their cannabis and hemp solutions include everything from methodology and preferred instrumentation for cannabinoid analysis, to guides for cannabis lab start-up and industrial hemp production.
• Fritsch – We explored the ANALYSETTE 22 NeXT Particle Analyzer and the PULVERISETTE 11 Knife Mill earlier this year. Their most recent instrument solution, the Particle Sizer ANALYSETTE 28 ImageSizer with the new modular wet dispersion system, allows high-quality particle sizing in suspensions and emulsions. The automatic dispersion system pumps samples through a closed loop containing the measuring cell, camera, and LED strobe light.  The system is especially powerful for fine particle, poorly flowing, fine-agglomerating, and/or sticky samples that do not react well in water or other liquids. A founding sponsor for this conference, we look forward to application developments around new products this year.
• SPEX – A platinum sponsor, SPEX has several new products to showcase, including the New CertiPrep 2-Color Aspergillus qPCR Kit and the new Genomax 250 Homogenizer and Lyser, both released in the latter half of 2021.

Both Agilent and CEM will be present, and likely to discuss the recent AOAC approval of their collaborative effort in producing a ICP-MS method for metals analysis in cannabis. The meeting agenda was just announced and includes discussions ranging from compliance and legal progress, to AI and automation in the cannabis production cycle, along with advancements in methods and instrumentation and other popular topics.

The 7^th Annual Emerald Conference will be held February 27 through March 1, 2022 at the Loews Coronado Resort in San Diego. This quaint location has the perfect backdrop for discussing interdisciplinary cannabis science and showcasing new products and services among a select cannabis audience. Highlights this year include:

• Exhibitors and new products focusing on: Extraction, Post-extraction, Distillation Testing, and Laboratory Equipment. The targeted audience includes those involved in analytical testing and quality control, among others.
• Discussion areas covering analytical solutions, with focus on methodologies and instruments geared towards microbial testing, plant genotyping and chemotyping, extraction technologies, to name a few.
• Further interest areas encompassing: Cultivation Technologies, Extraction & Separation, Formulation & Fill/Finish, and Preclinical/Clinical Research.

Research is currently an extremely important area for discussion, as the topics around cannabis compounds and disease are gaining momentum instep with the expansion of research funding and opportunities in both academics and industry.

Pittcon returns to live format March 5-9, 2022 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA.  The conference - which spans a large array of topics in analytical, materials, and life sciences -  reserves an exclusive focus area for cannabis and hemp research and testing.

Although the exhibitor list is not yet complete, a sizable number of vendors will be present to showcase their cannabis testing products and solutions. These include:

• Axcend – A provider of innovative, hand-portable, HPLC systems, we previously explored the Axcend Focus LC system, earlier in 2021. These HPLCs are ideally suited for remote testing at the cultivation site, production facility, or testing lab, making them valuable solutions to the challenge of on-site cannabis testing applications.
• Restek Corporation – A fixture in the analytical cannabis world, Restek has been rolling out a near constant stream of liquid chromatography products and testing solutions. We previously explored the new 9-component cannabinoid neutrals mix for simplified preparations of standard curves and internal reference mixes in LC workflows. Restek now offers the new Cannabinoids Acids 7 Standard Kit, which enables quantitative detection of the most frequently analyzed cannabinoid acids. Paired with the cannabis neutrals mix, the kits permit complete analytical cannabinoid profiling.
• Also worthy of mention here is Restek’s new Revive In-Line Sample Preparation (ILSP) device. This in-line LC cartridge separates sample analytes from potentially interfering matrix components. The objective is similar to traditional SPE and QuEChERS methods, but it accomplishes cleanup through an automated method in-line with the sample workflow. The result is better efficiency and precision, without the need for time-consuming and wasteful off-line process steps. The Revive ILSP device is ideal for multiresidue pesticides analysis in food and consumables.

We're looking forward to many more developments to come as we launch into the new year.

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