Press
BRC Featured in Stanford Business Magazine for its Novel Approach to Cannabinoid Drugs
The cannabis industry is evolving, moving from a previously illicit market to a more mainstream status, though it still operates within a regulatory and financial gray area. Companies like the Biopharmaceutical Research Company (BRC) and Cresco Labs are leading this change by navigating federal restrictions and scaling up operations. Despite challenges such as state-specific regulations and banking constraints, the industry anticipates substantial growth, driven by increasing legalization and consumer acceptance. Innovations in cannabis products and formulations are also propelling the market forward.
Coffee Talk Podcast: Exploring Cannabis' Role in Longevity with Hunter Land, PhD
Dive into the potential of cannabis in enhancing health span and lifespan with Hunter Land, PhD. Discover the "entourage effect", compare cannabis compounds with other longevity drugs, and explore their potential in preventing disease progression. A must-listen for those interested in cannabis research and longevity studies. Listen to the episode →
Cannabinoid Researcher Urges Industry to Adopt Scientific Mindset
Hunter Land, Vice President of Research and Development at US-based Biopharmaceutical Research Company, has called for the cannabis industry to explore the therapeutic possibilities of the cannabis plant and adopt a more scientific approach to developing medicines. Land urged the industry to move beyond the focus on THC and CBD, stating that there are 148 other cannabinoids that need to be explored. He also criticised the use of the term "strain" and described full spectrum and broad spectrum as ambiguous phrases that create an impression of administering "mystery soup" to patients. Land emphasised the need for the industry to be more specific about the ingredients in cannabis medication and the indications it is targeting. Read more →
DEA finally ends fed monopoly on schwaggy research-grade cannabis
Late last week, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) quietly made an announcement that’s expected to have a profound and long-lasting impact on cannabis research and development in the United States. Read more →
DEA close to allowing companies to grow cannabis for scientific research
After years of delay under the Trump administration, the federal government is preparing to award the first new licenses for cultivating cannabis for scientific research, giving U.S. marijuana operators a crack at entering a business that has been dominated by the University of Mississippi for more than 50 years. Read more →
DEA finally issues permits to grow research-grade pot
The DEA is finalizing the effort to increase the number of permitted research-grade marijuana growers after initially receiving guidance from its own administrative law judge in February 2007. Read more →
US growing approvals a ‘monumental’ step away from Trump moratorium on pot licensing
Last week the US government announced it would begin granting growing approvals to several companies for medicinal marijuana research, ending an informal moratorium on licence issuing which has been in place since the Trump administration. According to a press release from the founder and CEO of Biopharmaceutical Research, George Hodgin, the marijuana manufacturing approvals represent a “monumental step” forward for the American cannabis industry. Read more →
DEA finally ready to end federal marijuana research monopoly
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Friday notified several companies that it is moving toward approving their applications to become federally authorized marijuana manufacturers for research purposes. Read more →
Marijuana medical research growers receive U.S. approval
The U.S. government has approved new growers of research marijuana for the first time in more than 50 years, people involved in the process said, widening the capacity to study the drug’s medical value. Read more →
U.N. removing cannabis from schedule IV
Pharmaceutical cannabis: Achieving a consistent product from a highly variable plant “Growing like a weed.” You’ve no doubt heard this phrase before, in reference to the undesirable, relentless pest plants that overtake our gardens. Perhaps not surprisingly, this phrase is also commonly applied to the cannabis plant. Read more →
DEA widens path for medical marijuana research
The U.S. government is expanding the number of businesses that can grow marijuana for federally approved study after years of delay under the Trump administration. Read more →
U.N. removes cannabis from schedule IV drug list
While saying that this year has been difficult would be an understatement, 2020 seems to be ending on a high note for cannabis enthusiasts. On Wednesday, the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs voted to remove cannabis from the Schedule IV list, which contains highly addictive drugs such as heroin. Read more →
The long road to researching cannabis
In late 2016, a former Navy SEAL named George Hodgin was in the final months of completing a graduate degree from Stanford Business School and was trying to work out what to do upon its completion. Like many veterans of the US armed services, Hodgin knew plenty of fellow vets suffering from the effects of service-related PTSD. Read more →
For 60 years the DEA has blocked cannabis research in the US
It seems like yet another Orwellian twist on reality. In a country where 200 million people have some legal access to cannabis, where a dozen states have full legal markets, where over 67% of the population supports legal cannabis, the DEA still blocks anyone except growers at one small farm at the University of Mississippi from growing cannabis for research purposes. This means that most US scientists trying to examine how cannabis treats pain, or PTSD or cancer are prohibited from buying or researching the products they need to do their work. Listen to the episode →
One doctor vs. the DEA: Inside the battle to study marijuana in America
Early in Dr. Sue Sisley’s medical career, military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder told her that smoking marijuana prevented nightmares and helped them sleep. Sisley, a primary care physician and psychiatrist in Scottsdale, Arizona, who has treated vets for two decades, said she was initially skeptical of her patients’ claims, but their families vouched that pot was helping with their symptoms. Read more →
Cultivation framework release by DEA and DOJ
Biopharmaceutical Research Company (“BRC”) lauded the federal government’s efforts to implement regulations to satisfy the requirements of the Controlled Substances Act and several international narcotics treaties. Read more →
Cannabis for research: The great silence
Since the 1960s there has only ever been one federally licensed farm that grows cannabis for researchers, and it’s at the University of Mississippi. In 2016, the US Drug Enforcement Administration announced that it would license additional growers, and more than thirty entities rushed in from all over the world to apply. Read more →
BRC imports the 1st ever cannabis flower from Latin America
A shipment of medical marijuana from South America has arrived in the United States — and it's all right with the feds. Biopharmaceutical Research Company — a California-based marijuana research lab that is one of 33 DEA applicants to grow Schedule I research marijuana — received a shipment of marijuana grown by Uruguayan-based medical marijuana company Fotmer Life Sciences. Read more →
BRC imports the 1st ever legal cannabis flower from Europe
One of the top advocates for allowing U.S. companies to grow cannabis for research purposes has imported a batch from the Netherlands, saying he had no choice because of the lack of progress at home.
California-based Biopharmaceutical Research Co., founded by former Navy SEAL George Hodgin, legally imported a small quantity of marijuana from Bedrocan International last month to use for scientific analysis with the goal of better understanding the plant. Read more →
BRC and Washington State University to partner to study cannabis
Washington State University researchers and Biopharmaceutical Research Company (BRC) will partner to evaluate cannabis and accelerate the pace of cannabis research. The innovative partnership allows WSU scientists, many of whom are part of the university’s Collaborative for Cannabis Policy, Research and Outreach (CCPRO), greater access to cannabis for research purposes while remaining fully compliant with federal regulations governing cannabis. Read more →