PE backer stumps up $12.3m to help Teewinot grow cannabinoid business
“The funds will be used to make cannabinoid pro-drugs with better bioavailability, increase large-scale manufacture, patent new therapies and move into clinical and pre-clinical trials,” Teewinot’s Executive Vice President, Richard Peet, told BioPharma-Reporter.
“The increased figure will also contribute to Teewinot’s expansion of business development opportunities,” Peet told us upon returning from meetings in Israel.
The last two years have seen an increase in Teewinot’s cannabinoid production capacity, and in the variety of cannabinoids it makes.
Teewinot claims its patent-protected biosynthetic cannabinoid manufacturing processes are more efficient than conventional chemical synthesis.
A Teewinot spokesperson said these methods “reduce cost and production time, increases purity of cannabinoids, and diversifies the number and types of molecules which can be made available to the research, product development, and commercial production verticals.”
Private equity cannabis backer
Florida-based Teewinot focuses on the production and delivery of cannabinoid-based therapies, and the biocatalytic production of cannabinoids.
New York-based Tuatara Capital is a private equity fund which invests in cannabis-related companies.
In 2015, Tuatara invested $7m (€6.4m) in Teewinot. The investment helped develop manufacturing processes responsible for the manufacture of kilogram quantities of pharmaceutically pure cannabinoids such as THCA, CBCA and THCVA.
Tuatara’s other cannabis related investments include a 2015 deal with American cannabis brand, Willie’s Reserve.
Teewinot currently produces 18 cannabinoids, including THCV, THC, CBD, CBDV and CBC.
