BOULDER, Colo. — Charlotte’s Web has established  Charlotte’s Web Labs (CW Labs) an internal division for research & development substantially expanding on the company’s efforts around the science of hemp derived phytocannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoid compounds.  The company is placing its existing R&D team under the leadership of recently hired senior vice president of Innovation, Tim Orr, who will lead CW Labs’ expanded team of a dozen external and internal research specialists based in Buffalo, New York and Boulder, Colo. Orr is a global healthcare executive with more than three decades of commercial and product development experience in the diagnostics, life sciences, and medical device industries. Orr has held top executive and management positions at Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Laboratories.

“I am proud to lead CW Labs in support of Charlotte’s Web’s innovation and scientific discovery,” stated Orr. “With science driving new formulation development and product efficacy, CW Labs acts as an engine of innovation to create new high-quality products and innovative delivery systems to customers who have come to trust and rely on Charlotte’s Web.”

Charlotte’s Web, manufacturer of “the world’s most trusted hemp extract™,” is advancing the science of full spectrum extracts from hemp bred to express cannabinoids including cannabidiol (CBD), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), cannabichromine (CBC), and other naturally occurring hemp derived compounds. CW Labs aims to provide a boost to the Company’s product portfolio with science-based innovation (including studies on safety and effectiveness) while advancing clinical trials. CW Labs is currently engaged in double-blinded, placebo-controlled human clinical trials addressing hemp-based solutions for several need states.

“The launch of CW Labs formalizes our reach into the science, efficacy and safety of hemp plant compounds,” said Deanie Elsner, chief executive officer of Charlotte’s Web. “CW Labs demonstrates our commitment to innovation and our cutting-edge position with consumer wellness products derived from our proprietary hemp. We want to thank Governor Cuomo for his leadership in this space and we are looking forward to being even a bigger part of things in New York through our partnership with SUNY in the great city of Buffalo.”

Headquartered on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, CW Labs will be located in the Hauptmann Woodward Research Institute on the campus of the University at Buffalo’s Jacobs School of Medicine and The Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences through which it will foster collaborations throughout the State University of New York (SUNY) network of 64 national and international research and medical institutions. This builds upon Charlotte’s Web’s existing collaborations with prestigious institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Cornell and University at Buffalo.