Roxlor to take up the Keratec nutraceutical baton

Roxlor, which is based in Wilmington, Delaware, distribute just a small number of selected functional ingredients and also takes care of the marketing campaigns so as to build the market.

It also manufactures hard gelatine capsules from its plant in France.

Roxlor general manager Robert Veghte told NutraIngredients-USA.com that his company has worked with Keratec in the past.

Since the New Zealand company decided to discontinue its Cynatine FLX and Cynergy NK functional proteins from sheep's wool for nutraceuticals last year in order to focus on the cosmetics market, Roxler has stepped in to take on the distribution.

In addition, while Keratec supplies Roxlor with the base powder, Roxler carries out the drying for the two products itself.

Veghte explained that although Keratec, a relatively recent start-up, decided to channel its resources into cosmetics, he sees great potential for the ingredients in the nutraceutical arena.

In particular, he said Cynatine FLX, which is aimed at joint health, has "very large" potential thanks to the science already conducted to support its efficacy.

In addition the joint health market has not seen a great deal of innovation in recent times, with most products requiring high doses or multiple products in one capsule.

"The nice thing about Cynatine is that it is an effective stand-alone product at 500mg a day, as a single ingredient," he said.

In theory, he said, it has the potential to be a blockbuster on a par with glucosamine, if more research were conducted to build on the existing good base.

Roxlor has no concrete plans to conduct more research at this precise time, but Veghte did not discount the possibility of this in the future.

While the production process is rather complex, which can restrict the amount that can be produced, Veghte said that there is presently "reasonable supply" - enough to cater to any company wanting to use it in a product.

Keratec's focus for nutraceutical sales was North America.

Likewise, Roxlor's ingredients infrastructure is in the US, but the company is eyeing sales in Europe as well.

Keratec's other nutraceutical ingredient, Cynergy NK, is aimed at the anti-aging skin care market.

Provient Technologies Veghte told NutraIngredient-USA.com that Provient has chosen to hand over the marketing and distribution of its 6 Oxo and 11 Oxo ingredients to Roxlor for similar reasons of strategic focus.

"Provient is not established as a supplier, its focus is no manufacturing."

The ingredients are both metabolites of DHEA, a precursor to testosterone.

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Oxo is intended for use in sports nutrition or male anti-aging products, and has been seen to boost testosterone levels by 226 percent.

For a sportsperson in training, this can help build fitness, but Veghte said they would need to stop taking it in advance of competition as it may be regarded as a performance enhancer on the day.

For men of around 40 who are approaching the andropause (male menopause), it can be used to return testosterone levels to those of a 25 year old.

11 Oxo, on the other hand, acts as a cortisol-blocker that can help reduce visceral fat.

It therefore has uses in weight loss and anti-aging products.