Halifax, Nova Scotia – (August 5, 2021) – Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE:SIXW) (OTCQB:SIXWF) (FSE:AHUH) (“Sixth Wave”, “SIXW” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the finalization of a commercial system design for Affinity™ cannabis purification technology. SIXW is contracted to deliver three units to Oregon-based producer Green Envy Extracts (the “Customer”) after successful field trials beginning in the fall of 2021.
The Affinity™ System is a leading-edge purification process that will allow cannabis producers to deliver a product with the highest possible THC/cannabinoid purity with greater consistency that consumers demand. Affinity™ machines will use Sixth Wave’s breakthrough nanotechnology to significantly increase yields for producers by reducing the amount of cannabis lost through traditional methods in faster times with lower costs.
The savings are achieved by using the company’s patent-pending Molecular Imprinted Polymer (MIPs) technology to eliminate “winterization” and other conventional but sluggish stages of cannabis production, thereby capturing and extracting cannabinoids more efficiently and without the use of toxic chemicals or extreme heat which can degrade product quality.
“I’m excited that we have reached the last phase of testing before rolling out our first Affinity units ¬to our commercial partner,” said Dr. Jonathan Gluckman, President, and CEO of Sixth Wave. “All the data from our research and development work indicates that Affinity units can eliminate winterization and produce high-purity, full-spectrum distillates that consumers demand, both for recreational and medicinal purposes.”
The cannabis market continues to grow and evolve. Licensed producers like Green Envy aggressively look for ways to optimize their operations and improve the quality and consistency of the products they offer. Sixth Wave continues to regularly receive new inquiries on the availability of the Affinity™ System and the company plans to convert these opportunities into hard sale orders in the coming months.
The market for Affinity™ is shifting as well. Sixth Wave originally tested its technology on crude hemp extracts, where it successfully eliminated the need for winterization and achieved purity levels that exceeded conventional multi-stage distillation. The company has built upon those successes by widening its focus to the cannabis market, where demand grows for purer products across the spectrum of users, from those who prefer edibles or tinctures to connoisseurs desiring a superior taste or vapers looking for consistency in the performance of their cartridges.
Bench-scale testing has already indicated that Affinity is capable of superior adsorption kinetics for THC over the CBD extracted from hemp. Final configuration work is aimed toward optimization of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cannabis extracts.
Recent improvements in the polymer beads and optimizing procedures indicate that Affinity will achieve the goal of enabling entry-sized machines to process 20kg of finished distillate per day. Sixth Wave envisions potential revenue generation in excess of $1.25M annually from each machine when used at capacity while providing the licensed producer the opportunity to capture between 20-40% more cannabinoids from the crude extract and with a higher quality product adding directly to their bottom line.
“The Affinity System already shows somewhat stronger ability to purify THC than CBD,” Dr. Gluckman says. “We expect even better performance with crude cannabis extracts once we adjust the standard operating procedures to accommodate for the different total cannabinoid concentrations for these extracts. No reconfiguration of hardware is expected.”
Ongoing work includes:
1. Validation and/or update to the crude extract preparation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for possible changes to accommodate this specific type of extract material. The Affinity system allows us to remove the winterization process and replace it with sample preparation that does not require cryogenic refrigeration and is much faster than winterization. This is accomplished in a single process that also dilutes the crude extract so that it flows through the Affinity columns for isolation of the cannabinoids.
2. Selection of final Affinity bead design for product rollout. Sixth Wave has currently completed extensive design, manufacture, testing, and initial scale-up work on four high-performance formulations. Several designs have exceeded initial expectations and functional design specifications. The beads show performance advantages on several key parameters that reduce operating costs, reduce ethanol usage, and improve capacity. Final evaluation of purity level designs associated with hemp and cannabis crude is ongoing to optimize performance. The work is on schedule for Green Envy delivery and bead production scale-up.
About Sixth Wave
Sixth Wave is a nanotechnology company with patented technologies that focus on extraction and detection of target substances at the molecular level using highly specialized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs). The Company is in the process of a commercial rollout of its Affinity™ cannabinoid purification system, as well as IXOS®, a line of extraction polymers for the gold mining industry. The Company is also in the development stages of a rapid diagnostic test for viruses under the Accelerated MIPs (AMIPS™) label.
Sixth Wave can design, develop and commercialize MIP solutions across a broad spectrum of industries. The company is focused on nanotechnology architectures that are highly relevant for the detection and separation of viruses, biogenic amines, and other pathogens, for which the Company has products at various stages of development.
For more information about Sixth Wave, please visit our website at: www.sixthwave.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Jonathan Gluckman”
Jonathan Gluckman, Ph.D., President & CEO
For information, please contact the Company:
Phone: (801) 582-0559
E-mail: info@sixthwave.com
Cautionary Notes
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” including statements regarding the performance of the IXOS®, Affinity™, and AMIPs™ technologies. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future events or developments that the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company’s actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In particular, successful development and commercialization of the Affinity™ technology are subject to the risk that the technology may not prove to be successful in capturing cannabinoid targets more efficiently than legacy technology, uncertainty product development, the uncertainty of timing, lack of track record of developing products for these applications and the need for additional capital to carry out product development activities. The value of any products ultimately developed could be negatively impacted if the associated patent is not granted.
