PBG BioPharma Inc. (PBG) is a leading biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing company in Canada. PBG BioPharma has a suite of ISO accredited laboratories for product testing and research, and GMP manufacturing facilities with licences to process and manufacturing science-based cannabis products, nutraceuticals, and other biopharmaceuticals. At PBG, we promote health and wellness by dedicating research and innovation to develop breakthrough biotechnologies and products for customers and consumers.
Tell us about yourself?
With a doctorate in Pharmacology and a Ph.D. in Physiology, I have always considered myself a scientist first and a businesswoman second. My passion is and has always been sharing the healing power of nature with the world. The way I’ve strived to do that is by marrying the traditional with the modern by creating scientifically validated nutraceuticals and phytopharmaceuticals. My first success in the field was fuelled by a technology I co-developed in the 1990s during my time at the University of Alberta that identifies the chemical profile and biological activity of natural health products, ensuring batch-to-batch consistency. This led to the founding of CV Technologies (later Afexa Life Sciences) in the subsequent two decades and eventually to the development of COLD-FX, which continues to be the #1 best-selling cold and flu remedy in Canada to this day.
In the last 10 years, I continued to develop phytopharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals that tackled everyday issues such as viral infection, mental and energy disorders, and weak immune systems. Then, the recent legalization of cannabis presented Canadians with a plant with untapped potential— more and more studies reveal new and exciting applications of cannabis the medical field every week! So, it seemed like a natural progression to me to start a company that uses our research skills and proprietary phytopharmaceutical technologies to really bring the best out of this incredible plant to the public.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I would advise myself to focus more on our company’s strengths and not be diluted and distracted by other opportunities not important to the business, keeping my eyes on the market pulse. I would also spend more time and due diligence in selecting business partnerships.
What problem does your business solve?
We provide customers and consumers with high-quality, scientifically verified phytochemical based ingredients and products including nutraceuticals, cannabis-derived products and other active pharmaceutical ingredients. Product quality and consistency are two industry challenges that persist to this day. Through our proprietary technology and knowledgeable research team, we are constantly innovating techniques to deliver the best of the best to our customers and consumers.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
We stand by the belief that mother nature herself is the best source of medicine. In order to receive this healing power, we need modern medical science and innovative biotechnologies to extract and validate those unique phytochemicals from medicinal plants such as ginseng and cannabis. Our scientific team has dedicated the last 3 decades to do exactly that by marrying traditional medicine and modern biopharmaceutical science. This philosophy led to the creation of COLD-FX and other medicinal plant-derived products for health and wellness.
What is your magic sauce?
A strong science and technology position is what separates PBG BioPharma from its peers. Our scientific team has long proven track records of committing to research and innovation and our research has resulted in many breakthrough technologies and innovative health products. In the area of CBD/cannabis, our scientists have been actively searching for genetic, chemotypic, and phenotypic fingerprinting markers that can be leveraged to select and distinguish CBD/cannabis strains. This information confirms the identity of raw materials used and ensures authenticity, consistency and traceability for manufacturing CBD/cannabis-based products. These fingerprint markers enable our proprietary technology platform, GenBioChem® Triple Fingerprinting Technology™, to verify quality, authenticity, purity and potency throughout our entire production cycle, from lab to shelf. We have also established and standardized the testing protocols for a full spectrum of secondary metabolites to innovatively develop holistic CBD/cannabis-based products. Several cutting-edge genetic and analytical technologies are involved in this technology platform and the related work has been published on peer-reviewed journals.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
PBG BioPharma’s vision is to become a world leader in the research, development, testing, and manufacturing of trusted, science-based, naturally derived medical and consumer health products.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Our biggest challenge has been the long wait times for some of our facility and product licences. We powered through the construction, expansion and installation of our brand-new laboratories and manufacturing facility during the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet unexpected delays of the regulatory approval process held up our production and product sales. Luckily, through vigorous effort, we received all our necessary production, analytical testing and sales licenses which now allow us to accelerate our business. Another ongoing challenge is that cannabis products remain a restricted commodity in much of the world, and the regulatory procedures for sales in Canada and internationally act as obstacles to our expansion.
How can people get involved?
We would love to have anyone interested in purchasing pharmaceutical grade cannabis ingredients and companies needing development and production of innovative nutraceutical products to contact us. The best way to do that is to email info@pbgbiopharma.com or call us at 780-980-9801.