Santé’s value proposition is based on a proprietary delivery system technology which renders cannabinoids such as CBD, CBG and CBN water based and thus more bioavailable. The company, which is based in Austin, TX, is marketing three brands: Function CBG, Balance CBD, Restore CBN, all based on the proprietary delivery technology.
Santé Labs president Mike Sandoval said a key differentiator of the technology is that it stems from drug development and was developed to that standard. Santé debuted on the market as a hemp testing lab, a service it will continue to offer, but is now branching out, said Santé president Mike Sandoval.
“We have been we have been developing the technology for about three years now. We are filling in the gaps in the industry from a drug delivery perspective,” he said.
Taking a drug delivery approach
Sandoval said looking at cannabinoids through a drug delivery lens some things start to become clear. The marketplace as it stands is full of products many of which are poorly characterized and have only dimly understood delivery characteristics.
“When we classify cannabinoids from a drug delivery perspective we see they don’t absorb in the body very well. And cannabinoids are not very stable alone,” he said.
Sandoval said Santé’s technology is a nano encapsulation liposomal approach using pharmaceutical grade phosphatidylcholine and plant sterols as encapsulating agents. Using the technology not only improves the uptake but also puts some real data around shelf life, Sandoval said. The company advertises that its THC-free, water based liquid formulas are shelf stable for a minimum of 12 months. In addition, the company’s technology is said to provide a stable formulation with uniform particle size that does not require subsequent shaking and mixing to redistribute large particles that have settled out.
The purpose of launching the RESET brand was to gain experience in the marketplace with real consumers, Sandoval said.
Learning from real customers
“We did not want to develop a product, we wanted to develop platform. We also want to work with other drug ingredient and with other dietary ingredients,” Sandoval said.
Ashley Ferguson, vice president of business development for RESET, echoed those sentiments.
“I am able to bring so much retail data back to the team. In the CBD category there is no brand that owns more than 3% of the market share, and I believe it is because no brand is really satisfying customers. The benefit of having RESET is that we can bring so much insight into what did or didn’t work,” she said.
