Hard shell capsules are necessary because cannabinoids degrade with exposure to oxygen.. like an apple when its inner fruit is exposed to air. Certainly there is a reduced bioavailability from oral dosing and so a "hard shell" delivery passes through the stomach and absorption occurs in the small intestine leading to higher bioavailability.
other delivery capsules are used, including gelatine, but these are soft shell and so have a lower absorption. This is why the hard shell is so important... there are better systems around, eg. Sativex which was developed in the early 2000s, nasal spray, but these have stability problems due to the cannabinoids degrading in the bottle with exposure to air and light. Moreover these were solution based rather than oil based and so dosing was inconsistent. The capsules regulate the dose and bioavailability.
The capsules are required to undergo trials to determine that they are safe to use and do what they are supposed to do. Because they are only the delivery system rather than the drug, the trials are not so demanding and may be completed fairly quickly...there's no need for 3 years of trials as with testing a drug.
AC8 has a promising future. Its not just the caps that are being developed... but the caps will provide a conduit for revenue far sooner than developing a full medication profile and phase 1 to 3 trials.
(20min delay)