To support the development of its IP portfolio, including proprietary processes and formulations as well as molecular enhancements, the North Carolina-based cannabinoid ingredients and finished products company Open Book Extracts (OBX) has engaged two leading experts as strategic corporate advisors to develop, protect, and commercialize intellectual property.
 
Dr. Emmanuelle Schuler, PhD, MBA, now serves as a founding member of the OBX scientific advisory board, and Dr. John Weatherspoon, PhD, JD, will serve as intellectual property advisor for Open Book Extracts.

(Read more about Open Book Extracts in this interview with CEO Dave Neundorfer.)

Schuler provides strategic management services to biotech and life science companies, with prior experience including her role as the head of JLABS@TMC, and life science incubator at Johnson & Johnson, where she developed innovative solutions to positively impact patient lives and healthcare delivery, collaborating with the company’s Innovation and corporate venture capital groups to attract companies in alignment with their strategic efforts in biopharma, diagnostics, medical devices, and consumer healthcare.
 
Prior to joining J&J, Schuler led IP-based transactions at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and previously was responsible for industry-based strategic collaborations at the University of Houston, and supported science policy projects under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate Dr. Richard E. Smalley at Rice University.
 
Weatherspoon is a registered U.S. patent attorney, having served as a patent attorney at Morgan Lewis and Winston Strawn. He is the co-founder of Affirmed Pharma, an advisor at Mili Pharmaceuticals, and regularly advises on patent strategy and building patent portfolios for clients. In addition, Weatherspoon also conducted biomedical research at Duke university, the George Washington University Medical Center, and Burroughs Wellcome.
 
“As with our previously appointed advisors, each appointee joining OBX comes from sectors outside the cannabis category and is a testament to the broad appeal of the industry and the unique opportunity to make an impact through OBX,” Dave Neundorfer, co-founder and CEO of Open Book Extracts, said.
 
While much of the company’s product development is client-guided, OBX has recently embarked on several of its own research-backed product development initiatives, targeting the nutraceutical, skincare, and veterinary markets. OBX expects to commercialize its findings through licensing deals and/or joint venture partnerships with well-known, widely distributed consumer brands.
 
All of the recent corporate advisor appointments follow the company’s announcement of their reciprocal research collaboration with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU) to explore the mechanistic effects of cannabinoids on brain cell function. Powered by their cGMP operations and a team of world class scientists, OBX offers one of the largest portfolios of cannabinoid isolates including CBD, CBG, CBN, CBC, and THCV, all at greater than 99% purity, as well as formulation services and turnkey finished good manufacturing including edibles, softgels, tablets, tinctures, and a full range of topical products.
 
“Our approach is to guide our communities to plant-based, quality of life enhancing products as healthy alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs,” Neundorfer said. “As OBX gears up for a substantial growth phase, the depth and breadth of expertise of our newly appointed advisors will surely contribute tremendous value to our organization and the larger OBX ecosystem as we enhance and expand our capabilities.”