Scientific Food Solutions and Sabinsa extend agreement for ‘next generation’ vitamin C products
According to the terms of the semi-exclusive agreement, the BioPerine Patent and Trademark License Agreement between Scientific Food Solutions and Sabinsa Corporation covers the “field of use in dietary supplements compositions comprised of ascorbic acid and vitamin C” incorporating BioPerine in Fast-C.
“We are extremely pleased to be working with Sabinsa on this next generation of vitamin C ingredients,” said Gretchen Reese, president of Scientific Food Solutions.
The agreement reportedly covers US, Canada, Europe, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines and Australia.
Tolerance and bioavailability
Fast-C, developed by Scientific Food Solutions and distributed by E.T. Horn, is a unique, patent-pending composition that provides a buffered and over 90 percent acid neutralized vitamin C for stomach ease and greater tolerability, said the company.
The gastric discomfort some people experience with high doses of vitamin C is alleviated by use of a patent pending brand of natural alkalizing GRAS minerals (Alkemy), “which is why Fast-C will be so widely embraced by consumers”, said Reese.
According to the Nutrition Business Journal, vitamin C sales topped $900 million in 2008 in the US.
“The breakthroughs we have achieved making vitamin C more easily tolerated for better compliance are significantly enhanced and complemented by the addition of BioPerine, delivering significant results to the consumer,” said Reece.
“The addition of Sabinsa’s BioPerine and the increased bioavailability makes this the most effective vitamin C ingredient the industry has seen to date,” she added.
Sabinsa’s standardized piperine ingredient is extracted from black pepper and the patented product has been shown in clinical trials to increase the absorption of nutrients in nutritional supplement formulations.
Scientific substantiation
The benefits of the formulation were most recently reported last year at the 2009 American College of Nutrition annual conference in Florida. In a comparative study with a leading premium vitamin C (Ester-C), Fast-C was reported to achieve faster entry of the vitamin into the blood while urinary excretion was slightly less.
The clinical trial was conducted as a double-blind, randomized crossover study at Miami Research Associates, a US-based nutrition research facility monitored by the Food and Drug Administration.
Shaheen Majeed, marketing director at Sabinsa, said in a statement that the agreement is a “perfect fit for Sabinsa, given that all the principals involved in Fast-C have demonstrated a solid commitment to science and intellectual property similar to our own”.
Patent protected
The US Patent and Trademark Office (US PTO) upheld the patent on Sabinsa’s BioPerine ingredient last year, in a move that “recognized Sabinsa’s pioneering work in the development of piperine for use in the nutritional supplement industry”, said Sabinsa’s founder Dr Muhammed Majeed in 2009.
