Who is NextLeaf Solutions? 

NextLeaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) is a cannabis-extraction-technology company that has a patented process for the commercial scale production of high-quality cannabinoid distillate, the precursor to every cannabis-infused products. 

In short, the Canadian company, based in British Columbia, is bridging the gap from soil to oil, a reflection of its technology, which allows for low-quality, dried cannabis biomass to be processed into a high-purity distilled oil. NextLeaf's timing is apt: with infused beverages and edibles becoming legal in Canada by October 2019, the company has the opportunity to be a front-runner in the extraction space. 

The fact is that there is ample supply of low-quality cannabis and hemp biomass -- but there's a lack of extraction and processing capacity in the industry. NextLeaf is developing intellectual property around converting the cannabis plant into infused products through a scalable, repeatable process.

Let's face facts: when made with crude extract, edible and infused cannabis products taste, well, gross, thanks to chlorophyll, fats, lipids and other impurities. 

NextLeaf focuses on a premium distillate and believes the secret to producing standardized and impurity free cannabis extracts is in the purification and refinement steps, which goes above and beyond the typical crude extraction. Its highly concentrated THC or CBD distillate is odourless, tasteless, and standardized for potency

Nextleaf provides processing to licensed cultivators, and supplies cannabis oil and extracts to qualified Canadian and international B2B partners under their own brand. Nextleaf delivers its proprietary technology at both its centralized processing facility in Vancouver, BC and via mobile extraction lab at licensed production facilities.

How is it doing? 

NextLeaf has had an impressive start to 2019, most notably the encouraging news that the US Patent and Trade Office has granted it a patent for its process of extraction, refinement and distillation of cannabinoids from marijuana and hemp.

It's the first publicly traded entity to be issued an extraction patent. In addition, Nextleaf announced that it has been issued a standard patent from IP Australia, the government agency that administers intellectual property rights. And there's more to come -- with 18 patents pending in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Jamaica, Europe and Australia. 

"Companies that secure unique intellectual property first have a competitive advantage," said CEO Paul Pedersen in an interview with Proactive, adding that cannabis processing and pharmaceutical applications are lucrative, as compared to others, such as genetics applications, etc.

Financing in place

In March 2019, the company closed a C$5 million financing and completed a reverse takeover of Legion Metals.  In an industry report, Arcview Research says the edibles market alone could be worth more than C$4 billion in Canada and the US by 2022.

NextLeaf CEO says ...

The recently issued patent is exciting news for the company, says Petersen, but most important, it validates the company's strategy. 

"Our strategy from day one was to be the absolute best at developing disruptive extraction technology and focus as a business, not worrying about growing or developing brands or retail, but to just focus on the underlying technology that goes from plant into product and being able to deploy that in a highly scalable way."