The manufacture of medicinal cannabis promises to be big business and a new growth industry in New Zealand, as and when commercial licences are granted. The licences will for the first time allow the commercial cultivation and manufacture of medicinal cannabis, and open up a vast international market. There’s the potential for New Zealand to emerge as a major player in this developing and global pharmaceutical market, and a Unitec research team is part of a study that is looking at new ways to measure growing cannabis plants to ensure top quality of the derived pharmaceutical products.
Dr Ray Simpkin from Callaghan Innovation’s Research and Technical Services and Unitec Senior Lecturer Wayne Holmes setting-up the hyperspectral imaging equipment at Rua Bioscience
Currently our industry partner, Rua Bioscience of Ruatoria, are forging ahead to become an industry leader in New Zealand. They are growing medicinal cannabis under a research licence and harvested its first crop of cannabis flowers in November 2019 from 5,000 plants. Exciting plans are underway to scale up operations as soon as commercial production licenses are granted. The research team is utilising Rua’s crops for their research project and are bringing together a multitude of partners with complementary areas of expertise. Alongside Unitec, the project includes partners Callaghan Innovation, ESR, Scion and the University of Waikato.
Senior Lecturer Wayne Holmes from our School of Computing and Information Technology, and Associate Professor Melanie Ooi from the University of Waikato, are together leading this project to establish the optimal time in the plants growth cycle for harvesting.
Senior Lecturer Wayne Holmes preparing the imaged samples for shipping to Scion for NMR (Nuclear Magnetic resonance – a technique for establishing what compounds exist in a material) and other chemical analysis – the results will be used to train their models for cannabinoid level determination
They are being supported by Dr Ray Simpkin from Callaghan Innovation’s Research and Technical Services team. Together they have traveled to Ruatoria and used hyperspectral imaging to analyse the plant foliage. Hyperspectral imaging involves dividing light into thousands of small bands to gain detailed information, beyond the ability of the human eye to detect. The imagery provides instant results, far more time and cost efficient than having to send plant specimens to laboratories for analysis. The plan is for the team to establish at what stage in the plant’s life cycle it is producing cannabinoids and to choose the best time to harvest.
Gregor Steinhorn, Unitec’s Research Partner – Enterprise, Tuapapa Rangahau and Irene Kereama-Royal – Research Partner, Rangahau Māori, are managing the relationships in the project including the partnership with Rua. Gregor is a biotechnologist and Irene an expert in Māori business engagement and kaupapa Māori research. Together they ensure that the research undertaken is aligned with what the industry needs to be measured and scientific discoveries are swiftly progressed through technical development into application.
Also on the team is Associate Professor Dan Blanchon, Head of our School of Environmental and Animal Sciences, and an expert on cannabis morphology and anatomy. Dan’s morphology expertise includes significant knowledge of the different varieties of cannabis plants. A legitimate expertise developed in a prior role working in association with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) where Dan taught the botanical identification of cannabis plants.
The team would like to develop a climate-controlled growth room on campus for the study. This facility would allow for changes in light and temperature, to grow plants that can be tested with hyperspectral imaging equipment on site without having to travel to Ruatoria. But first Unitec would have to get a “Licence to Cultivate a Prohibited Plant for Medical or Scientific Research” from the Ministry of Health to obtain seeds and grow cannabis plants. This means a lot of paperwork for Gregor and Dan, along with a security plan to manage the security of the growth room and plants that Clint Hill, Director – Infrastructure Operations, will help them with.
So while there’s a bit to do yet, once all the formal requirements are in place, Unitec will be in a prime position to support an exciting new growth industry, which will provide cancer sufferers and other patients with therapeutics that combat nausea and pain.
Are these developments being reported in the outside media? Very newsworthy stuff!
Thank you for your message Daniel, and yes this is a newsworthy topic so this is a priority external opportunity, but there are a couple of other factors that have the potential to give this story more profile, so we’re holding it for the moment.