US company Vital Living, which develops nutraceuticals formulated by physicians for distribution through physicians, said this week it has signed a three-year agreement with National Provider Network, a subsidiary of Medical Resource, based in Marlton, New Jersey.
Effective from 30 September 2002, the agreement marks the first initiative for Vital Living with a leading Preferred Provider Organisation (PPO), and boosts Vital Living's existing distribution through medical institutions.
The preferred provider network run by National Provider Network and its affiliates consists of approximately 300,000 doctors and 30,000 participating ancillary facilities and hospitals.
National Provider Network will actively market and distribute Vital Living's cardiovascular disease products, Medical Food, Essentum and Essentum N.P.
National Provider Network and Vital Living will also develop a specific marketing plan focused on educating its medical personnel and patients on Essentum's benefits, including a comprehensive lifestyle and nutritional management programme incorporating the product.
"Vital Living is excited to introduce our evidence-based nutritional intervention programme to promote cardiovascular health through one of this country's largest private pay organizations," said Brad Edson, CEO of Vital Living. "As a result of this initiative, National Provider Network and Vital Living are further establishing ourselves as leaders in the fields of care and prevention."
Martin Wallace, consultant for the PPO, said: " With the advent of Essentum, the PPO can now provide functional nutrition to its members as part of its prevention programmes. We are confident both the patients and medical personnel will warmly embrace this product and the commensurate educational programmes, including newsletters, patient mailings, and online health assessment questionnaires."
Essentum is the first medical food supplement developed by Vital Living's Scientific Advisory Board of cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists. It contains only clinically proven nutritional ingredients to address the specific needs of cardiovascular patients by increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol while lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, total triglycerides, and homocysteine.
Essentum also provides recommended daily intakes of essential nutrients in highly absorbable forms, and is specifically designed to not counteract with prescription medications commonly prescribed to cardiovascular patients, said Vital Living.
Vital Living's nutraceuticals are designed to be incorporated by physicians into a standard physician/patient programme, supported by a specially designed compliance regimen. The company's initial area of focus is cardiovascular health, the leading health concern in America.