Ultra Shear Technology: Revolutionary Process for Making the Highest Quality CBD Nanoemulsions Now Hitting the Market

Cannabidiol, or CBD, and other cannabinoids are oil-based compounds. The human body is a water-based environment. To get the CBD where it needs to go, an emulsion of oil- and water-based ingredients has to be made. Emulsions can be achieved chemically or physically, and each approach has its downside. Most physical emulsions tend to separate over time (in minutes, days, even weeks) like the Italian dressing you vigorously shake before putting it on your salad. Many of the chemicals commonly used for emulsification are perhaps not the best things to put into your body.

In answer to this dilemma, one innovative laboratory equipment company has developed a revolutionary solution that provides very stable and clean nanoemulsions that can be used to effectively deliver oil-based ingredients into the water-based world of human and animal bodies. Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) is currently offering its patented Ultra Shear Technology™ (UST™) through an early access program, with the full product launch expected later this month. UST utilizes very high pressure (several times the pressure at the bottom of the Marianas Trench) to shear oil drops containing the active ingredients (nutraceuticals, vitamins, supplements, pharmaceuticals) to nano-sized droplets, enabling these important ingredients to be absorbed by the body far faster and more efficiently than previously practical or possible.

How Oil and Water Emulsions Are Made (CBD Oil Used as an Example)

PBIO’s UST platform is a bit of a mix of the two main approaches to emulsification – physical and chemical – with major improvements to both. Physically, the oil drops used to transport the active ingredient (e.g., CBD) are sheared down into much smaller individual droplets than most if not all currently available processes. The company is shearing CBD oil into droplets measured in nanometers. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, so small it’s really hard to comprehend. A sheet of paper is 100,000 nanometers thick. There are 25,400,000 nanometers in one inch. PBIO’s goal is to reduce the size of the UST-processed nano oil droplets (of which there could be billions) – regardless of the active ingredient contained in the oil – to under 100 nanometers each (smaller than bacteria).

The UST platform does this by using super-high pressure (in the neighborhood of 45,000 psi) to push the CBD oil and water mixture through its patented Nano Gap Valve. The combination of high pressure and the intense shear that happens as the mixture goes through the incredibly small valve opening shears the CBD oil/water emulsion to a microscopic level. The resulting nanodroplets of oil are so small (under 100 nanometers) they become a very long-term stable, “effectively water soluble”, and highly bioavailable nanoemulsion capable of extremely efficient delivery of CBD throughout the body. 

While most competitors make their nanoemulsions using chemicals with names that are difficult to pronounce, the patented UST process is so effective at shearing the CBD oil to nanodroplet sizes that PBIO can use very small amounts of all natural, plant-based additives in its formulations. This is a major improvement over the common practice of adding chemical emulsifiers like glycerol monostearate, silicone, sodium isethionate, polysorbate, and other substances to products that are supposed to be good for you. Many of these common emulsifiers are based on petrochemicals, some create toxic byproducts, and most are a far cry from ‘natural’ as most people understand the word.

In the images below, taken from PBIO’s investor presentation, you can see the clarity and stability achieved by using the UST platform when compared to a competitor’s conventionally processed emulsion. These conventional emulsions are almost never nanoemulsions, and the difference is startling.

Commercialization Underway

Pressure BioSciences has a long history in the laboratory instrument and equipment industry, and it has hundreds of instruments in many of the most respected labs around the world. These instruments use the company’s Pressure Cycling Technology (or PCT) platform, not UST. The primary areas of focus of these PCT instruments have been in drug discovery and development, biomarker discovery, and forensic science. The company’s PCT platform has been used for years in the development of new drugs, diagnostics, and treatment options for multiple important areas of human disease and disabilities, such as cancer and infectious diseases. 

PBIO’s experience in developing, selling, and servicing hundreds of PCT instruments worldwide offers confidence that the company has the ability to do the same for its new, about to be commercially launched, UST platform, the BaroShear K45 System. The BaroShear K45 is capable of producing many liters of nanoemulsified oil (CBD or other) per minute. Initial target markets include nutraceuticals (e.g., CBD), vitamins (e.g., D3), anti-oxidants (e.g., astaxanthin), supplements (e.g., curcumin) and cosmetics products (e.g., containing retinol).

PBIO is slated to open two fee-for-service, GMP-compliant tolling centers capable of handling larger volumes for contract partners. One center is scheduled to open later this month at the company’s headquarters in Massachusetts; the other will be opening in a few months in southern California. Because the BaroShear K45 is capable of more production than the initial benchtop small capacity systems used to prove the UST process, these new locations will be able to produce nanoemulsions on a much larger, commercial scale.

Due to increased customer demand ahead of the facility openings, the company created an Early Access Program in May 2022 designed to get the ball rolling with some early adopters. The idea has taken hold, and the company has announced three deals with CBD products companies. One is for an oral CBD spray, another for a topical CBD spray, and a third for nano-CBD bulk product that can be further formulated into other products on a white label basis. Each of these contracts is projected to create $1 million+ in 2023 revenue for PBIO, with more potential in the future depending on the success of the products. The company has also specifically been generating strong interest with cannabis drink manufacturers, a high growth area to keep an eye on.

Pressure BioSciences is expecting to announce more CBD/cannabis deals in the near term and is simultaneously addressing other industries as well. The company recently announced a major deal with Dr. Denese SkinScience, a pioneer in the anti-aging skincare industry that averages around $20 million/year in sales. It’s an initial two-year R&D deal, with some existing products anticipated to utilize UST processing while other products are under development. There are plenty of other target markets for the technology beyond cannabinoids and cosmetics as well, including food and beverage, inks and paints, agrochemicals, health and wellness, and pharmaceuticals.  Basically, if the active ingredient is in oil, PBIO believes it can nanoemulsify it, which would then significantly increase its stability, effective water solubility, and of course bioavailability.

For now, know that UST represents a true breakthrough technology, providing CBD and other cannabinoid products that offer superior quality, long-term stability, effective water solubility, and best-in-class bioavailability. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Pressure BioSciences directly to find out more about the technology’s capabilities and the company’s Early Access Program. Investors are encouraged to keep an eye on Pressure BioSciences (OTCQB: PBIO) as commercialization in several target markets proceeds and revenues hit the books.

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Robin Lefferts

Robin Lefferts has been involved in the legal cannabis industry since 2012, sometimes as an active participant and always as an interested observer.