Milford lab to provide modern testing for medical marijuana
Dorian Des Lauriers, co-founder and president of ProVerde Laboratories Inc., is a self-described “chronic entrepreneur,” and his latest venture brings him into the uncharted territory of the Massachusetts' budding medical marijuana industry.
ProVerde will conduct testing on medical marijuana, among other specimens, at its new Milford site on Fortune Boulevard. By providing testing services, Des Lauriers hopes to legitimize the substance as a treatment for those with chronic illness and remove the perception that marijuana is just a recreational drug.
'Real medicine'
“I wanted people to look at this as real medicine,” said Des Lauriers, noting that traditional medicine is subject to testing before it can be sold to consumers.
Des Lauriers helped form the Coalition for Responsible Patient Care, a trade group that, it says, promotes responsible medical marijuana policy in the Bay State. Des Lauriers said the group successfully lobbied the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to require mandatory testing of medical marijuana, and ProVerde is ready to begin that work once DPH issues guidance on that process in the coming months.
ProVerde, which Des Lauriers says is currently “incubating” in a warehouse space on Constitution Boulevard in Franklin, will open doors in the new Milford space, formerly occupied by Thermo Fisher Scientific, after the site is retrofitted in April. A shop of six, Des Lauriers said there’s potential for the company to quickly expand to 50 employees or more as ProVerde builds its client base over the next couple of years.
Des Lauriers, who has founded Internet land surveying and government workflow software businesses, began sizing up medical marijuana market opportunities before voters approved the legislation in 2012, and he thought capitalizing on testing needs made the most sense.
He found an able partner in Christopher Hudalla, co-founder and chief scientific officer at ProVerde. A former employee of Milford-based Waters Corp., which develops analytic testing technology, Hudalla brings with him knowledge of cutting-edge methods for profiling marijuana for medical marijuana patients.
Testing underway with Waters equipment, founder's prescription
ProVerde will use Waters equipment in its testing services, which will extend to other markets, including pharmaceutical, nutrition, environmental and petroleum industries. ProVerde is also providing consulting services to other businesses interested in using the Waters trademarked method, known as UltraPerformance Convergence Chromatography, which Des Lauriers described as “ideal” for cannabis testing. With the state’s first wave of pot dispensaries expected to open by summer, ProVerde is conducting method development testing in preparation for its first clients.
So where are they getting the specimens? Des Lauriers said he and another employee are obtaining them, using their own medical marijuana patient identification cards.
Image source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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