Lonza, the Swiss-based pharmaceuticals company, has said that the US Food and Drug Administration has allowed the sale of PepZin GI, the subject of a new dietary ingredient submission to the federal agency.
PepZin GI is a patented zinc-carnosine complex supported by abundant human and animal data. PepZin GI has been used in Japan for over a decade as an ulcer-healing drug under the generic name Polaprezinc (INN).
Lonza has an exclusive distribution agreement with Hamari Chemicals. (Osaka, Japan), to market the ingredient in North America and Europe. Hamari Chemicals manufactures and holds the patents on the compound. PepZin GI is said to offer exceptional, "drug-like" patent protection, in that the molecule itself is claimed.PepZin GI is a coordination complex of zinc with the dipeptide L-carnosine.
"PepZin GI is a unique molecular entity, with biological activity different than that of zinc mixed with carnosine," offered Anthony Almada, MSc, President and Chief Scientific Officer of IMAGINutrition. He added, "We believe PepZin GI's data and intellectual property package will usher in a new category of evidence-based dietary supplements."
Lonza Group is a Life Sciences driven chemical company headquartered in Switzerland, with sales of SF2.5 billion (€1.7bn) in 2001 and operating 21 production and R&D facilities in 9 countries. It employs 6,200 people worldwide and is the leading supplier of active chemical ingredients, intermediates and biotechnology solutions to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.