The Science of Turning Plant to Profit <\/strong><\/p>\n Cannabis contains more than 100 individual compounds known as cannabinoids, including the increasingly popular cannabidiol, or CBD. CBD is different than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives users a \u201chigh\u201d feeling.<\/p>\n Sotzing and the 3BC team, which also includes Belsito; Brian Thompson, who received his Ph.D. in cell biology from UConn\u2019s School of Medicine; and Rosanne (Vlandis) Leake ’82 (CLAS), a UConn alumna and Storrs native, are focusing on a lesser-known compound: CBN, or cannabinol.<\/p>\n While there is limited clinical research on CBN at present, it has potential applications to aid sleep, regrow bone, stimulate appetite, and even prevent sepsis through its antimicrobial properties.<\/p>\n The magic in their product comes from Sotzing\u2019s innovative, patented method for producing a pure, THC-free, non-GMO CBN isolate. Naturally, the hemp plant is only .5% CBN. By contrast, hemp is 10% CBD. With CBN existing at such small amounts in the plant, extracting from the plant is not commercially viable. Sotzing\u2019s method chemically converts hemp extracts to boost CBN yields. This method provides not only pure CBN, but as CBN increases in popularity, the ability to scale to meet market demand.<\/p>\n \u201cI took this into a whole different field of the chemistry-based innovations that I had developed,\u201d Sotzing says.<\/p>\n 3BC now sells their product to companies who use it in a host of cannabis-related goods like nutraceuticals, tinctures, and topicals.<\/p>\n The main advantage of 3BCs product over its competitors is its purity, Sotzing says. Customers never have to worry about THC content or other contaminants.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they add it in to their products, formulators know what they\u2019re getting,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Because of Sotzing\u2019s approach, 3BC can create a pure white CBN crystalline powder, derived from hemp. Compared to other oily or thick forms of CBN, 3BC\u2019s pure CBN isolate is easy to handle and measure, an important feature to formulators.<\/p>\n While this is their first product, 3BC has plans to expand their offerings based on Sotzing\u2019s other research innovations. He is working on solving other problems in the hemp industry, like shelf stability and bioavailability.<\/p>\n Making a Mark in the Market<\/strong><\/p>\n Just like one of their customers\u2019 products, the 3BC team needed the right ingredients to launch and grow their business. One of our biggest accomplishments is being accepted into TIP. It enabled us to accelerate everything. — Brian Thompson<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/p>\n In addition to their team, they have taken advantage of several UConn programs that support entrepreneurial faculty to commercialize their research, launch businesses, and create jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cUConn is on the cutting edge of hemp research and innovation,\u201d says Radenka Maric, vice president for research, innovation and entrepreneurship at UConn and UConn Health. \u201cWe are committed to providing support for faculty and student inventors to unlock the commercial potential of the work they\u2019re doing in the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n The company received early and ongoing support from UConn\u2019s Technology Commercialization Services<\/a>, a group that helps faculty inventors patent and market their innovations to potential licensees.<\/p>\n In December 2019, 3BC had advanced enough to join the UConn Technology Incubation Program (TIP)<\/a> as a self-funded startup.<\/p>\n In addition to providing lab and office space, TIP helps startups succeed by pairing them with world-class research and business resources available at top research institution like UConn.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of our biggest accomplishments is being accepted into TIP,\u201d says Thompson, chief executive officer of 3BC. \u201cIt enabled us to accelerate everything.\u201d<\/p>\n 3BC also worked with the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation<\/a> and its Verge Consulting Program which advised them on market research and pricing. The program also introduced them to their newest team member, Jasdeep Singh, who will be graduating with an MBA from UConn’s School of Business this June.<\/p>\n To confirm the makeup of their products were as pure as they believed, 3BC worked with a laboratory at the UConn Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering<\/a>. This top-of-the-line testing facility provides them with the required Certificate of Analysis which states their product is legal to sell.<\/p>\n Sotzing says this collaboration is extremely beneficial to the company as the researchers there are willing to help them solve problems rather than simply providing the certificate.<\/p>\n \u201cHere on campus they give you more than just a piece of paper,\u201d Sotzing says. \u201cThey actually work with us to help us understand really specific qualities of our product.\u201d<\/p>\n Growth Industry<\/strong><\/p>\n 3BC started generating revenue in September 2020, and they say they are excited to be part of a rapidly expanding industry with untapped potential in terms of the science of hemp and its potential health and economic impact.<\/p>\n \u201cHemp will be a significant business in the state, and it will drive the economy,\u201d Sotzing says. \u201cOur motto is \u2018unlocking the promise of hemp,\u2019 so we hope to be a big part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Follow UConn Research on<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0&<\/em>\u00a0LinkedIn<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UConn startup 3BC is using cutting-edge research to produce high-quality hemp products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":168435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,1731,2076,2235,2198,2225],"tags":[2249,80],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-168433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-entrepreneurship","category-research","category-today-homepage","category-tolland-county","category-uconn-storrs","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-research"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 05:33:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168433"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168575,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168433\/revisions\/168575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/168435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168433"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=168433"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=168433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"3BC](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/3BC-pure-CBN-isolate--245x300.jpg\")
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