News
SIXTH WAVE ENTERS PRODUCTION-SCALE TESTING WITH
FIRST AFFINITY CUSTOMER, REVIEWS ROLLOUT PLAN
Halifax, Nova Scotia – (February 16, 2021) – Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE:SIXW) (OTCQB:ATURF) (FSE:AHUH) (“Sixth Wave”, “SIXW” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update regarding the development of its Affinity™ system for cannabis purification.
Production Scale Testing & Full Size Customer Installation
Sixth Wave is now in the final stages of preparing a beta version of its cannabinoid purification system (the “Affinity™ Unit” or the “Unit”). This initial five-column Unit (“5CU”) will be subjected to a series of performance tests at the SIXW’s research facility in Maryland, expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. The laboratory-based test work will document the standard operating procedures (“SOPs”) for the Unit, and demonstrate the operation of all operating cycles in a continuous circuit, including: i) Load Phase, (ii) Wash, (iii) Elution, (iv) Cleaning and (v) Reconditioning.
SIXW will then deliver an upgraded ten-column version of the Unit (“10CU”) to its first customer, Green Envy Extracts of Michigan (“Green Envy”). This higher capacity Unit will be submitted to a series of parallel tests against well known legacy purification technology. The 10CU configuration will be operated for a period of 60-90 days, to complete the head-to-head testing, and to optimize the system for use with the Green Envy cannabis extracts.
The Company will then round out its production-scale proof of concept work by upgrading the Unit to a 20-column configuration (“20CU”) on site at the Green Envy facility. The 20CU will be a full-size iteration of the Affinity™ platform, with all of the material features and capabilities of the production Affinity™ Unit.
“We’re excited to be turning the corner on the development and fielding of our Affinity™ technology,” said Dr. Jonathan Gluckman, President and CEO of Sixth Wave. “The installation of a high-capacity system at our first commercial customer is an important milestone for SIXW. This lays the groundwork for a standardized Affinity platform, capable of being rolled out to a cannabis industry badly in need of scalable and affordable process technology.”
“The key features of Affinity — faster processing speeds, lower capital and operating costs, and exacting levels of precision — are in high demand for an industry looking to accommodate major markets now opening in the U.S. and internationally,” said John Cowan, COO of Sixth Wave.“What’s more, the Affinity platform promises to be rapidly scalable to virtually any level of mass production volume, an indispensable feature for an industry now forecasted to experience exponential growth through 2023 and beyond.”
The customer agreement with Green Envy (the “Agreement”) requires that the full-scale configuration operate for a period of 60 to 90 days, producing high purity, full-spectrum cannabinoid distillate for final approval. The Agreement then calls for the installation of three industrial grade and GMP qualified units at the Customer’s sites. SIXW anticipates that the first GMP Affinity™ system will be generating full capacity revenue in Q3 of this year.
Review of Affinity Milestones (2020 & 2021 to Date)
As with many businesses, the Company has not been immune to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, with quarantine requirements, partial lab shutdowns, and travel restrictions within the Company and its partners having caused delays.
With just a year elapsing since SIXW’s listing on the CSE, the Company has accomplished numerous milestones in the development of its Affinity™ platform. That already positive trend is on track to accelerate markedly in 2021. What follows is an abbreviated summary of those milestones, including a discussion of the impact on new installations and the attainment of revenue-positive status in the year ahead.
Notable Affinity™ benchmarks met in 2020/2021 include:
- Execution of production and distribution agreements/Letters of Intent for manufacture of the Affinity™ equipment, installation, and warrantee support. Company has arranged production in the UE for systems requiring the EU-GMP requirements and in Prince Edward Island Canada for North America and other locales that follow the USA/Canadian GMP requirements.
- Compilation of an extensive list of customer inquiries, comprising a sales database demonstrating potential demand for over 200 Affinity™ Systems, varying in size from our 20kg finished distillate per day level to 1000kg per day levels. Inquiries include cannabinoid processors from around the world.
- Current financial models show process savings to licenced producers ranging to 40% over existing process technologies, inclusive of Sixth Wave’s Total System Performance Licence (TSPL) fees.
- Company is currently optimizing the formulation of the Affinity™ molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) to transition production to its toll manufacturer.
- Company is achieving single column efficiency sufficient to yield final distillate purity in the mid to upper 90% range with cannabinoid loses four times lower than conventional processes.
- Company has successfully proven and developed Standard Operating Procedures to prepare crude extracts for use in the Affinity™ platform that will allow the licenced producer to eliminate winterization processes.
Overall, SIXW believes that consumer demand for cannabis related products is bullish, especially with the anticipated trend of additional jurisdictions in the US expecting to legalize marijuana in the near term. The Company expects to see continued State-by-State legalization, which will promote the build out of facilities resulting in the continued expansion of markets for Affinity™.
For more information on Affinity™ purification systems and associated molecular imprinting technologies, please visit affinitynano.com
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 roll out 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 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 web site at: www.sixthwave.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Jonathan Gluckman”
Jonathan Gluckman, Ph.D., President & CEO
