CBD is becoming a booming business in Boomtown. CBD American Shaman

Look out, California and Colorado. The recent passing of Texas' House Bill 1325 means that the Lone Star State is now poised to be the largest hemp-producing state in the nation.

To wit: Texas already boasts more than 1,500 licenses and more than 1,100 lot permits already issued, making the state a major hemp hub.

So it's fitting that a budding new convention centered on all things hemp and CBD and hemp will head to Houston. The Lucky Leaf Expo will run November 5-6 at NRG Center, organizers announced.

Attendees can look forward to more than 120 exhibitors, more than 40 speakers, panels, and more. "Cooking with Cannabis" demos promise to be an interesting draw.

Planners also plan to fire up a pre-show Cannabis Business Crash Course.

Tickets can be purchased online and at the convention center during the event.

"We have a diverse array of exhibitors in every channel of the CBD/hemp industry that specialize in the sale of seeds, CPAs, attorneys, accountants, processors, manufacturers, soft gel companies, to help get you started for your business," Chad Sloan of Lucky Leaf Expo noted in a statement.

As Forbes pointed out last year, after being legalized in 2018, hemp is already one of America's top ten agricultural crops. CBD is now a $2 billion industry: Its medical applications are booming; food products also promise to be huge.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Axiom Space-tested cancer drug advances to clinical trials

mission critical

A cancer-fighting drug tested aboard several Axiom Space missions is moving forward to clinical trials.

Rebecsinib, which targets a cancer cloning and immune evasion gene, ADAR1, has received FDA approval to enter clinical trials under active Investigational New Drug (IND) status, according to a news release. The drug was tested aboard Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) and Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3). It was developed by Aspera Biomedicine, led by Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute (SSCI).

The San Diego-based Aspera team and Houston-based Axiom partnered to allow Rebecsinib to be tested in microgravity. Tumors have been shown to grow more rapidly in microgravity and even mimic how aggressive cancers can develop in patients.

“In terms of tumor growth, we see a doubling in growth of these little mini-tumors in just 10 days,” Jamieson explained in the release.

Rebecsinib took part in the patient-derived tumor organoid testing aboard the International Space Station. Similar testing is planned to continue on Axiom Station, the company's commercial space station that's currently under development.

Additionally, the drug will be tested aboard Ax-4 under its active IND status, which was targeted to launch June 25.

“We anticipate that this monumental mission will inform the expanded development of the first ADAR1 inhibitory cancer stem cell targeting drug for a broad array of cancers," Jamieson added.

According to Axiom, the milestone represents the potential for commercial space collaborations.

“We’re proud to work with Aspera Biomedicines and the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute, as together we have achieved a historic milestone, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come,” Tejpaul Bhatia, the new CEO of Axiom Space, said in the release. “This is how we crack the code of the space economy – uniting public and private partners to turn microgravity into a launchpad for breakthroughs.”