Calgary, Alberta, April 16, 2020 – FluroTech Ltd. (TSXV: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF), is pleased to announce that it has entered into a strategic Agreement in Principle with Alberta BioPhotonics Inc. (“ABP”) and Albany MedicalCollege (“AMC”) to form FluroTest LLC (“FluroTest”).

The CompleTestTM adaptation is expected to take approximately three months with trials planned shortly thereafter. We caution that FluroTest is taking the existing technology developed by FluroTech and adapting that technology to be able to test for COVID-19. We are still in the early stages of research and development and are not making any express or implied claims that it can accurately diagnose COVID-19 virus at this time. FluroTech and ABP are majority shareholders in FluroTest.

The collaboration will have primary focus on adapting FluroTech’s CompleTestTM platform technology to test for a range of viruses including COVID-19, as well as accurately determining viral load. Additionally, FluroTest believes its technology can also be adapted to allow for the detection of specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 human antibodies in blood samples, potentially confirming the development of immunity. Once developed, both tests would be administered at point-of-collection with results expected to be available in less than 15 minutes.

The Team

FluroTest’s technology development efforts require unique expertise in spectroscopy and fluorescence as well as immunology and virology. This initiative is a collaborative effort between U.S. and Canadian scientists with deep experience in their respective fields.

For immunology and virology expertise, FluroTest has partnered with Albany Medical College’s immunology and microbial disease department. AMC is located in the State of New York. The Department’s research team is led by Dennis Metzger, Ph.D., professor and chair of the department, along with assistant professor Kouacou Konan, Ph.D., who is working with FluroTech to develop the technology. Dr. Konan’s research program concentrates on virus detection and the mechanisms responsible for viral disease pathogenesis. The program is supported by a Biosafety Level 3 laboratory that allows for the use of highly virulent pathogens and is one of the few such facilities in the state of New York. Dr. Konan has obtained approval for Covid-19 work in his Level-3 laboratory. As part of Albany Medical Center, the only academic medical center and Level 1 Trauma Center serving northeastern New York and western New England, Albany Medical College is in a unique position to begin large scale sample collection and clinical trials which will assist in obtaining regulatory approvals including FDA approval. “Mycolleagues and I look forward to collaborating with Dr. Elmar Prenner and the fluorescence spectroscopylaboratory at the University of Calgary” noted Dr. Konan. “This initiative enriches our mission of patient care, research and education—three critical factors to address this difficult viral problem for the people we serve.”

FluroTech’s fluorescence spectroscopy laboratory at the University of Calgary, is led by Dr. Elmar Prenner. Dr. Prenner is the original developer of the technology owned by AB Photonics. Dr. Prenner, a professor at the University of Calgary within the department of Biological Sciences, serves as senior science advisor of FluroTech and brings over 28 years of expertise in fluorescence spectroscopy. “We are proud to commit our CompleTestTMplatform technology and ongoing discovery efforts to partner with Albany Medical College’s team to find solutionsto the difficult problems posed by viruses, and Covid-19 in particular”, said Dr. Elmar Prenner.

About Albany Medical Center

Albany Med, northeastern New York’s only academic health sciences center, is one of the largest private employers in the Capital Region. It incorporates the 766-bed Albany Medical Center Hospital, which offers the widest range of medical and surgical services in the region, and Albany Medical College, which trains the next generation of doctors, scientists and other healthcare professionals. It also includes a biomedical research enterprise and the region’s largest physician’s practice with more than 500 doctors. Albany Med is affiliated with Columbia Memorial Health and Saratoga Hospital to provide the largest locally governed health system in theregion. Combined, our system has more than 1,100 beds and nearly 100 outpatient locations throughout the

In the burgeoning cannabis industry, testing companies are often considered the gatekeepers to success. Between consumer demand and regulatory obligations, marijuana producers are compelled to provide a full analysis of what they’re putting on the market and accurate results are crucial. FluroTech (TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF) is a Canadian-based provider of cannabis and hemp testing technology that at its core is dedicated to offering solutions designed to increase safety, awareness, and education. Their patented CompleteTest system utilizes advanced fluorescence spectroscopy technology to provide results in minutes for manufacturers right at their facilities.

Danny Dalla-Longa, President and CEO of FluroTech

CFN Media spoke with FluroTech President and CEO Danny Dalla-Longa at the recent MJ Micro conference in Beverly Hills to learn more about some big news recently announced and how the firm’s technology could possibly prevent the next VapeGate.

CFN:  You were recently awarded a research license in Canada. What does this mean for the company?

Danny Dalla-Longa:  It allows us to acquire and freely test commercial amounts of cannabis and hemp. It was a bigger problem in the hemp market since existing regulations do not allow for the purchase of hemp for testing. We had to go to the hemp growers’ facilities to conduct tests. The University of Lethbridge, for example, is developing 40 different strains of hemp and they have them all analyzed, so that allows us to obtain samples from them to develop our analytical testing protocols.

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The license also allows us to accelerate our efforts for a GMP certification application which is planned for submission by the end of Q1, 2020.  

CFN:  How could firms like FluroTech help prevent issues such as the so-called vape crisis happening right now in America?

DD:   Our biotracking technology, which introduces an approved biomarker into the plant, tracks the plant through the entire process enabling the end-product to be analyzed with our CompleTest device to determine whether it’s legal or illicit, and which LP legally produced it.  We expect that to be a major breakthrough. It’s the same concept as seed to sale, but instead of tracking a package, we’re tracking the plant right through to the end consumer.

We expect regulators won’t require much convincing as to the positives of biotracking. If you grow cannabis or hemp, there’s a need to identify the origin, which may help suppress the black market which can only enhance safety and tax revenue. 

CFN:  What does the company have on deck for 2020?

DD:  Well, we’re looking forward to penetrating the U.S. market, and further adoption in the Canadian market. In Canada, with approximately 200 licensed producers of cannabis and hemp, we plan to cover the market in the next 12 to 18 months. In the US, we’re in discussions with potential joint venture (“JV”) partners to effectively distribute our technology.

Additional offerings are also in development. We do have a cadmium test, which will be commercially available within about a month.  Further development of the remaining heavy metals test for Lead, Mercury and Arsenic are next, followed by pesticides and mold. FluroTech is open for further JV discussions to accelerate our development pipeline.

CFN:  What else should the readers know about FluroTech?

DD:  We currently remain focused on the hemp market especially in the US, our patented biotracking technology and development of further testing protocols which will enhance revenue.  Our first sales were just realized near the end of our Q3 in September and anticipate sustained quarterly revenue growth. 

We’re also fielding inquiries from companies based in other countries so I can see discussions in the near future regarding sales and JV’s in other parts of the world where cannabis and hemp are legal.

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About Rachelle Gordon

Rachelle Gordon is a Minneapolis-based writer. Find her online at www.rachellegordon.net.

Failures have been triggered by inaccurate labeling or contamination from pesticides, bacteria or processing chemicals.

Those testing requirements and results have left some retailers with severely limited inventory over the past few weeks, as cultivators and product manufacturers scramble to get compliant products to market.

There was a big gap at the beginning of the month with the supply of marijuana buds in particular, according to Nick Rinella, chief operating officer of Verdant Distribution, a Long Beach-based independent cannabis distributor.

The new testing requirements have also created backlogs at busy labs.

The state has licensed just 31 testing labs, most located in Northern California, and many of them aren’t yet taking customers. As a result, Rinella said cannabis safety tests are taking between one and two weeks.

And this week the first cannabis product was recalled from store shelves because it doesn’t meet new standards regarding pesticide levels.

While that’s concerning, in the short term, industry experts believe it’s also a sign that California’s cannabis industry is maturing and starting to look like other regulated markets, such as alcohol and food.

Wrong labels

California launched legal recreational marijuana sales and imposed new rules for the cannabis industry on New Years Day. But state regulators gave businesses a six-month grace period to comply with some rules, including a requirement that they could only sell products that had been tested for safety by a licensed lab.

That grace period ended July 1, and the state says since then labs have tested 5,268 batches of marijuana, about 20 percent of which failed to meet state standards.

Those numbers would likely be higher if companies weren’t paying for independent lab tests before putting their products through the official supply chain, according to Verdant Distribution founder Brian Blatz.

“Smart brands are pretesting first, then testing again in the labs,” he said.

More than two thirds (68 percent) of the cannabis batches that failed in state tests did so because of inaccurate claims on the labels. Specifically, labels often over-state the amount of THC — the compound in cannabis that makes people feel high — that’s actually in the cannabis, according to Bureau of Cannabis Control spokesman Alex Traverso.

While that’s not necessarily a safety hazard, it can lead consumers to overpay for products that aren’t as strong as advertised.

Pesticides trigger recall

Nearly one in five of the failed tests (19 percent) were related to pesticides. In some cases, the cannabis tested for traces of pesticides that are totally forbidden; in others, it tested with higher levels of pesticides than the amount deemed safe by state law.

Los Angeles-based company The Bloom Brand announced Wednesday it was recalling four vaporizer cartridges with cannabis oil that doesn’t meet state standards for safe levels of the pesticide Myclobutanil.The fungicide is commonly used on food crops, such as grapes and almonds, but is believed to be unsafe when heated — a process that’s common for marijuana smokers.

The Bloom Brand cartridges were sold to 100 stores throughout the state between July 1-19. It’s not yet clear how the products got to market after July 1 with unsafe levels of Myclobutanil.

“We are working closely with (state cannabis officials) to remedy this issue and expect clean, compliant products to be back on shelves in three weeks,” the company said in a press release.

Some marijuana is testing positive for pesticides that cultivators never used, according to Micah Anderson, president of the Southern California Responsible Growers Council, a cannabis trade group. He said product from several growers who’ve taken over former vineyards, for example, failed initial tests because the soil was contaminated, with stricter limits on pesticides allowed in marijuana than in wine.

“For growers, this will definitively be the biggest challenge they face,” said Cliff Yeh, co-founder of Encore Labs, a cannabis testing center in Pasadena.

There are 60-plus banned or regulated pesticides. Growers can pass the majority of the limits on the pesticide guidelines, Yeh said, but if they fail on a few the whole batch is considered a failure.

Other contaminants

Around 6 percent of lab test failures since July 1 have been due to microbial impurities, such as mold and bacteria. The most common microbes showing up are the fungus aspergillus and the bacteria e.coli and salmonella, all of which can develop in marijuana if it isn’t properly stored with careful controls for humidity.

Another 5 percent of failed marijuana samples have involved concentrated waxes and oils that tested positive for residual solvents, such as ethanol, butane and isopropanol. Those chemicals are used to extract THC and other active ingredients from marijuana plants.

Some additional marijuana testing requirements will be phased in Dec. 31.

Starting in 2019, all marijuana products will need to be tested for heavy metals and mycotoxins, toxic substances that can come from mold. Products will also need to be tested for levels of terpenoids, the organic chemicals that give marijuana its distinct aroma and play a role in its effects. And marijuana-infused edibles will have to be tested for moisture content, to make sure they’re not breeding grounds for bacteria and mold.

And more as yet unspecified adjustments are expected, with the state still crafting permanent industry regulations. But just three weeks after the latest testing requirements took affect, Rinella said shelves at marijuana shops are starting to fill back up with product deemed safe for consumers.

Profit margins for most licensed cannabis companies remain thin as they struggle to make it through turbulence that comes when a gray market is fully legalized, Blatz said. But the producers that do survive are competing to see who will be the first Anheuser-Busch of cannabis.

“Because the market is still maturing, there’s not really brand loyalty yet,” he said. “But it’s coming.”