Nutraceuticals International articles from July 2003

Nutraceuticals International archives from July 2003

Novartis to buy Semper Clinical Nutrition.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Swiss drug major Novartis is set to add Semper Clinical Nutrition, an arm of Denmark's Arla Foods, to its own clinical nutrition business. Financial terms of the agreement, which is expected to close before the end of the month, have not been...

Zila settles with CRO, results encouranging.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The USA's Zila says that it has received a $20 million payment from its former clinical research organization, ILEX Oncology Services, which settles a lawsuit related to a dispute over the development of OraTest, Zila's oral cancer detection...

Sigma to move for Pan Pharma assets?(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Melbourne, Australia-headquartered Sigma could make a bid for the remaining assets of shamed herbal and nutritional supplements maker Pan Pharmaceuticals, according to a health care analyst at a leading broker. UBS' Kiara Bechta-Metti is...

Probi signs licensing deal with Health World.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Sweden's Probi AB has signed a deal with Australia's largest supplier of probiotics, Health World, which gives the latter rights to market one of Probi's patented bacteria on the Australian and New Zealand markets. Financial terms of the...

Leading Chinese herbal medicine firms to merge.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The China Medicine Material Group, which manufactures and sells traditional Chinese medicine, is set to merge with the China National Pharmaceutical Group (SinoPharm). Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Sources close...

Wimm-Bill-Dan in talks with Danone.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Russia's leading food and beverages company, Wimm-Bill-Dann, has confirmed reports that it is in talks with France-based Danone regarding its possible merger with the latter. WBD, which is already 4%-owned by Danone following an initial public...

Wassen's exports overtake home sales.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... UK-headquartered nutritional supplements manufacturer and marketer Wassen International says that, for the first time in its history, a larger proportion of its earnings is now coming from export markets. The company says that around 60% of...

$1.8B facility solves Numico funding issue.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Netherlands-based Royal Numico says it has secured a $1.82 billion unsecured revolving credit facility that will finance the repayment of all outstanding senior debt at the firm and resolve any liquidity issues in the process. The company,...

Danisco's profits rise, forecast gloomy.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Danish sugar and food ingredients company Danisco has reported an 8.2% increase in profits to 137.4 million euros ($161.3 million) for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2003, but said that the outlook for the coming year is "way behind our...

Spain's Soria Natural sees important gap for natural medicines, sets up franchiser.
July 1, 2003... Spanish pharmaceutical company Soria Natural will establish a franchiser of natural medicine products and treatments this year to profit from a growing market for such therapies in Spain and around the world. The company will test the model at...

GeneScan do Brazil gets Ministry accredition.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... GeneScan do Brazil, part of the agro-food division of GeneScan Europe AG, which was recently taken over by the Eurofins Group, has now gained accredition from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture. Together with other GeneScan sites, the...

Cytodene transfers brands to Phoenix.
July 1, 2003... Currently embroiled in various legal actions over its ephedra supplement, Xenadrine RFA-1, Manasquan, New Jersey-based Cytodyne Technologies is transfering the bulk of its business to its contract manufacturing partner, Phoenix Laboratories....

Nutrition 21 settles Lonza patent suit.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The USA's Nutrition 21 and Lonza of Switzerland say they have settled a patent infringement action against the latter "on mutually satisfactory terms." Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Under the terms of the deal, Lonza has...

Pharmachem buys Avoca herbals plant.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The US ingredients supplier Pharmachem Laboratories has acquired the Avoca division of R J Reynolds Tobacco Company in partnership with Avoca's senior management. As a result of the buy, Pharmachem will own the largest botanical extraction...

Novogen licensee files isoflavone suit.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Solae Company (formerly Protein Technologies International), a US licensee of soy-related patents from Australia's Novogen, has filed a patent infringement suit against Archer Daniel Midland and Amerifit Nutrition over the use of...

Vital Living to buy Christopher's Herbs.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Vital Living, which calls itself "the physician nutraceutical company," has signed a definitive agreement to acquire fellow US company Christopher's Herbs Line, which is based in Springville, Utah. Once the deal closes, Vital will issue 2.6...

Numico optimizes baby food making.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Numico of the Netherlands says it has initiated plans to optimize its European manufacturing platform within its Baby Food Division. The company adds that the plan is "an integral and important part of Numico's strategy to become a high-growth,...

Mannatech looks to expand abroad.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... US nutritional supplement firm Mannatech has announced that it is investigating potential opportunities for future international expansion. Chief executive Sam Caster said the success of the firm's international operations "has demonstrated the...

ANI shares taken off Nasdaq market.(Advanced Nutraceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Shares in troubled US company Advanced Nutraceuticals Inc (ANI) were removed from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market on 24 June. The market value of Denver, Colorado-based ANI had fallen below the $1 million threshold for continued Nasdaq listing....

NI acquires Arizona Health Foods.(Nutraceutical International)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Nutraceutical International has expanded its retail presence in the US market by acquiring Arizona Health Foods, a chain of health food stores, for around $3.5 million in cash. The Park City, Utah-based company, which manufactures and markets...

Preliminary approvals for Rexall settlements.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Judges in the US states of California and Florida have granted preliminary approval to nationwide class-action settlements against Rexall Sundown, the Royal Numico business recently acquired by NBTY (NI vol 8, no 6). Final approval, which...

Advitech licenses psoriasis technology.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Canada's Advitech Solutions has signed an exclusive license agreement with Pierre Jouan Biotechnologie of France for peptide technology with potential applications in psoriasis and similar immune system disorders. The agreement covers the North...

Goalposts move again on borderline products under proposed EU legislation.
July 1, 2003... There are serious concerns in the food industry about the direction being taken by new European Union legislation affecting products on the borderline of medicinal status. If the European Commission's proposal to update Directive 2001/83/EC on...

Finland retains Noni juice ban.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Finland is retaining its ban on Noni juice despite the European Commission's recent decision to clear the product as a novel food (NI vol 8, no 5). The Finnish National Food Agency blocked the import, sale and marketing of Noni fruit juice...

UK Lords say no to EU supps Directive.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The House of Lords, the upper house of the UK parliament, has voted decisively against regulations implementing the European Directive on food supplements. The Lords came out 132-79 in favor of a motion proposed by Conservative health...

Evidence requirements mooted for herbals.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The European Medicines Evaluation Agency's Working Party on Herbal Medicinal Products has released for consultation a draft concept paper on The implementation of different levels of scientific evidence in core-data for herbal drugs. The...

UK, Ireland warn on "fat burner" capsules.
July 1, 2003... Regulatory agencies in the UK and Ireland have warned of a serious risk from "fat burner" capsules being sold over the Internet. The capsules contain 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), an industrial chemical used mainly as a pesticide and in purifying...

Substantiation of health claims - the need for good science.
July 1, 2003... The ability to make legal health claims is essential to the viability of the market for functional foods, supplements and nutraceuticals. At present, the regulation of health claims across the world varies, but the one common factor that...

UK supplements market flat at L350M; has greater consumption than rest of EU.
July 1, 2003... The last-ditch attempt in the UK House of Lords to head off the European Union's Directive on food supplements (see story on page 9) may not ultimately carry much political weight. But it does reflect the tenacity with which some elements of...

EP vote clears narrow path for GM foods.(European Parliament)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Two pieces of legislation that point towards an end to the moratoria on imports of new genetically-modified organisms into the European Union have cleared their second reading in the European Parliament. The proposed regulations, on...

Seven opinions still to come on upper safe levels for micronutrients.
July 1, 2003... Vitamin C and iron are among the seven nutrients for which upper safe levels are still awaited under the terms of the European Union's food supplements directive, 2002/46/EC. Speaking at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Association of the...

Ditox unsubstantiated but not medicinal.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... An advertisement used in the UK for a "detox" supplement was unsubstantiated but it did not slip into medicinal territory, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. The ASA was following up a complaint about a poster for Ditox, a food...

FDA's "aggressive" enforcement strategy.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The US Food and Drug Administration is committed to enhanced enforcement activities to protect the public from unsubstantiated medical claims by dietary supplement distributors, the agency has said in a White Paper issued June 30. ...

Ephedra: AMA, NY Senate vote for a ban, and FTC fines more firms over false ads.
July 1, 2003... The American Medical Association's House of Representatives has given unanimous backing for the AMA to continue its long-running campaign to get dietary supplements containing ephedra alkaloids banned from sale in the USA. The vote, at the...

FTC crackdown on rogue supplements in the USA gathers pace.
July 1, 2003... The Federal Trade Commission has been busy pursuing dietary supplements that make unsubstantiated health claims. The US body's recent enforcement activities have included two separate complaints in federal district courts, as well as a consent...

OMB calls for changes to US Dietary Guidelines to reflect new CHD data.
July 1, 2003... The White House Office of Management and Budget has urged the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture to make changes to the national Dietary Guidelines and the Food Guide Pyramid, to reflect new information that omega-3...

Canada's new Natural Health Products Regs to be phased in over six years from Jan 1.
July 1, 2003... Health Canada has now adopted the new Natural Health Products Regulations (NI vol 7 no 11), which call for such products to carry improved labeling and comply with Good Manufacturing Practices, require product and site licensing and make...

US grocery-makers' body comments on bio-pharma permit regulations.
July 1, 2003... The Grocery Manufacturers of America, accompanied by 10 other US food industry trade associations, has submitted comments to the US Department of Agriculture calling for a comprehensive regulatory system to address the unique challenges...

Peanut butter becomes US quality standard.
July 1, 2003... The well-known dietary staple peanut butter is used by some in sandwiches, while others prefer to mix it into desserts or feed it to squirrels. However, now there is a new use for the product: as a quality-assurance tool. The USA's...

India's nutraceutical industry is still at a formative stage.
July 1, 2003... Nutraceuticals are regarded as a "sunrise industry" in India, but health foods, tonic drinks and nutritional supplements are not new to the local diet. Indians have consumed similar products since very early times as a part of the country's...

Japanese say "health foods" misleading.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Representatives of the Japan Medical Association, the Housewives' Association and the National Liaison Committee of Consumer Organizations were recently invited to present their views on the current situation of health foods and the role they...

Amino-acid health drinks becoming increasingly popular in Japan.
July 1, 2003... The Japanese market is characterized by the often very short lifespan of a product or range as Japanese consumers, especially the young adult group, demand novelty or quickly react to a change in lifestyle. This group is also very susceptible...

Benefit of nutrients in infant formula: B-MS.
July 1, 2003... The results of a new study show that Enfamil Lipil with Iron, which is supplemented with the fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid and ARA arachidonic acid, helps to significantly improve the visual development of infants compared to...

Conjug'd linoleic acid may help diabetics.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Researchers at Ohio State University, USA, have found that conjugated linoleic acid may be helpful in the management of type 2 diabetes. In a randomized, double-blind study, 21 adults with type 2 diabetes were given either a placebo or mixed...

Vitamin E promotes strong cells.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A new study from experts at Harvard Medical School in the USA, entitled The Benefits and Risks of Vitamins and Minerals: What You Need to Know, says that vitamin E's abilities can also include two traits that can have "substantial...

Antioxidant vits give no cardiac protection.
July 1, 2003... Antioxidant vitamins were not found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in a recent study by the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, USA, a recognized leader in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Patients who were given...

Nutrient-rich almonds help lower cholesterol.
July 1, 2003... Individuals with normal-to-moderately high cholesterol levels may be able to lower these and maintain a healthy heart by substituting almonds into their diets for less nutrient-dense foods, according to the results of a study published in the...

Soy oil best repell3nt of disease-carryihg mosquitoes.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Soy oil is recommended to repel the threat of mosquitoes, researcher David Sullivan of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health in Balitmore, USA, told the Washington Times, saying it was considered the most-useful of natural or plant-based...

Another blow to preventive vitamins from USPSTF study on beta carotene.(US Preventive Services Task Force)
July 1, 2003... Even the best-quality studies fail to show "consistently or meaningfully" that vitamins reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, a US review has concluded. The US Preventive Services Task Force), a group of health experts that assesses...

Probiotic benefit in eczema extended.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The ability of the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus to protect infants from atopic eczema extends beyond the first two years of life, suggests a follow-up study by researchers from Finland. Reporting their findings in The Lancet...

Australian breakthrough in eco-friendly food manufacturing.
July 1, 2003... In what is seen as the ultimate in recycling, Australian food manufacturers can now turn their rubbish into safe, value-added products for use in medicines and health supplements, thanks to breakthrough technology developed by University of...

Infant formula and blood pressure.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A new study, published in the British Journal of Medicines, suggests that supplementation of infant formula with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids leads to lower blood pressure several years later. These fatty acids, the dominant one...

Canola oil a rich anti-cholesterol source.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... While many cooks regard olive oil as the healthiest cooking oil, canola oil actually matches olive oil in terms of being a rich source of mono- unsaturated fats, according to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, USA, and, indeed,...

Indena's IDN 5390 is potential cancer drug.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A study presented at the National Approaches for the Discovery of Anticancer Agents in Freiburg, Germany, has reaffirmed interest in IDN 5390, a promising molecule derived from the yew tree which has been identified by Italian firm Indena. ...

Co-enzyme Q10 hinders Parkinson's.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The nutritional supplement co-enzyme Q10 has been shown in early results of studies at the University of California in San Diego, USA, to slow the progressive deterioration associated with early stages of Parkinson's disease 44%. 80...

Selenium benefits in breast cancer?(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... A link between a genetic polymorphism associated with breast cancer and the need for selenium has been identified by researchers at Illinois University, USA, reporting in the journal Cancer Research (2003; 63: 3347). They described polymorphism...

More fruit means less risk of stroke.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Eating more fruit may lower the risk of ischemic stroke, a Danish cohort study has indicated. In the prospective evaluation of 54,506 men and women included in the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health study from 1993 to 1997, people in the top...

New Ross formula offers DHA, ARA.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Ross Products division of USA-based Abbott Laboratories says its new line extension, Alimentum Advance, will be the first protein hydrolysate formula with iron on the US market to be supplemented with DHA and ARA. The fatty acids...

Loders Croklaan extends Marinol line.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Loders Croklaan Lipid Nutrition has added two marine-based omega-3 fatty acid products to its Marinol line of functional food ingredients in the USA. Marinol D-40 Oil and Marinol DHA Powder feature high concentrations (minimum 40% and 20%,...

Ezaki Glico turns to women's health.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Ezaki Glico has launched two nutritional supplements for women in Japan. Fweeks offers tailored nutrients in individual daily-dose packets for each of the three phases of a woman's menstrual cycle (the product's name reflects the four-week...

Quantum's "ultimate" eye care supplement.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Michigan, USA-based Quantum Nutritionals has launched what it calls the "ultimate" dietary supplement for eye care. Luteinplus with MZ is a patented blend of three caretenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin and meso- zeaxanthin. The last of these was...

Forthcoming meetings/events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
July 1, 2003... Natural Products Expo Asia 2003 will now be held in Hong Kong on December 3-5. The event was rescheduled from June 18-20 because of uncertainties associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). For more information visit...

People on the move.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Sachiaki Ibe, president of Zeria Pharmaceutical Co, has been appointed incoming chairman of the newly renamed Japan Self-Medication Industry (JSMI, formerly the Proprietary Association of Japan). Shinji Nitta is retiring as president of the...