The company, formed by Scepter Holdings (the holding company behind plastics firm Scepter Manufacturing), has retained the services of Janus Corporate Finance to help it forge relations with companies that are already have a track record in delivery systems, and who already have relationships with potential clients or channels of distribution.
The Actijube system is a soft chew host for bioactive ingredients (like a gummy or a jube-jube), that is manufactured using a proprietary low temperature process. According to the company, most soft chew or confectionary processes, and those that require heat to dissolve ingredients, may result in reduction of the active ingredients.
Not only is Actijube claimed to reduce or eliminate such degradation, but it is also suitable for products with two or more bioactives, and facilitates bioavailability and metabolization of the ingredients.
The ingredient is distributed uniformly throughout the chew, which helps ensure precise dosage, and is shelf-stable in non-controlled environments.
The delivery technology was developed by VitalState in Florida, and Scepter Holdings was its sole funder.
The agreement between the two companies expired on December 31 2005, at which point all VitalState was due to repay all amounts to its creditor, or all of its intellectual property and non-operating assets would become wholly-owned by Scepter Holdings.
Kevin Tremblay of Janus Corporate Finance told to NutraIngredients-USA.com, that once equity funding has been secured, "the overall business strategy is to license to human nutrition supplement companies for specific applications".
Actijube has already been used in two creatine-based sports nutrition products, and as of October 2005, retail sales of products using the technology were $250,000.
Other potential applications include calcium and calcium with vitamin D supplements; energy supplements, fruit and vegetable extracts; vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal supplements; and functional foods.
Chews are a particularly useful delivery format for supplement products aimed at consumers who are unable or unwilling to take tablets, such as children and the elderly.
Products already available using a chew format include Zila's Ester-C soft chew; Ocean Nutrition's bulk omega-3 chews; and Benecol cholesterol-lowering chews containing plant stanols.
ODT's technology may also find uses in the pharmaceutical sector, and in animal nutritional where it is marketed under the Actichew trademark.