Rethinking the Traditional Cannabis Laboratory Service Model Using Standardized Hardware, Software, and Methods
Accurate and reliable analytical cannabinoid potency data is essential to operating a compliant, consistent, and profitable cannabis company. Third-party testing labs service this industry need by offering testing as a service to cannabis companies. Since testing labs have a vested interest in the sustained success of their clients, successful lab-client relationships are usually more akin to a partnership than a simple service provider. Testing labs understand that supporting their clients throughout the cannabis product development lifecycle is mutually beneficial and endears their clients to their suite of professional laboratory services. However, third-party analytical potency testing at the levels required to sustain good manufacturing practices and to ensure the quality, consistency, and efficiency of manufacturing processes is extremely expensive. Additionally, the informational lag from the sampling-to-result turnaround time creates opportunity for costly process inefficiencies to linger, resulting in lost profit margins on manufactured products or increased time-to-market. Supplementing third-party compliance testing with in-house quality control testing significantly decreases the cost and lag time associated with obtaining the analytical information required to operate a successful cannabis business.
This talk will focus on the testing needs of cannabis operations requiring high testing volumes such as processors and other vertically integrated businesses and multi-state operators. It will outline how in-house and commercial testing workflows can be aligned through the standardization of analytical hardware, cloud-based software, and sample preparation, analysis, and quantitation methods. A new collaborative testing model is described for democratizing cannabis potency testing, while expanding the professional laboratory services offered by commercial cannabis testing laboratories.
PResenter: Shawn Helmueller, M.Sc. (Chief Science Officer, Ionization Labs)
Shawn obtained Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degrees in Chemistry, and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He earned a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Minnesota studying supercritical fluid separation theory, and adult education.
Shawn Joined Waters Corporation in 2015 as a product development and applications chemist in the purification and SFx separations product development and marketing group. Considered a subject matter expert in applications and systems utilizing carbon dioxide (CO2) as a solvent, Shawn consulted with internal and external stakeholders on systems research and design, product development, and applications utilizing CO2-based technology.
In 2019 Shawn joined Deutsche Process as Chief Scientific Officer. His lab was involved with new product research and development and scientific evaluation of new and existing industrial sanitary processing technology for implementation in emerging markets.
In 2020 Shawn joined Ionization Labs, a Green Ocean Sciences Company, as Chief Scientific Officer. Ionization Labs is a life sciences solutions and software provider. Shawn blends his background in analytical and industrial systems development, food and natural products application research, and new product research, development, and marketing to deliver robust, innovative, and intuitive application and software solutions in support of new and emerging markets. He collaborates with the business and software development teams to support and manage new product research, development, and marketing of Ionization Lab’s flagship cannabis potency testing solution, Cann-ID. Shawn also supports scientific operations in Ionization Lab’s Austin Texas based commercial ISO 17025:2017 accredited cannabinoid testing and research laboratory.
