The patent, US Patent 8329743, covers the beneficial synergistic effects of a combination of polyisoprenylated benzophenones, stilbenes and anthocyanins to enable weight loss. The patent covers the use of Sabinsa’s patented and proprietary extracts GarCitrin and Silbenol, but it also applies to any weight management formula utilizing polyisoprenylated benzophenones, stilbenes and anthocyanins.
“These three families of compounds have been studied for their individual effects in weight management and more specifically in fat metabolism. By this patent Sabinsa brings the concept of combination of multipronged approach in weight management using the proprietary extracts from Sabinsa. Clinicals are planned for this combination, for which Sabinsa has obtained a patent in advance for safeguarding its proprietary knowledge on this combination and pursuing its objective in providing the industry a scientifically validated weight management product,” Shaheen Majeed, marketing director for Sabinsa, told NutraIngredients-USA
Builds on prior patent
This latest patent is only the most recent arrow in the IP quiver for these ingredients. Sabinsa, which is based in Piscataway, NJ, but also has centers of operation in Utah and in India, holds a patent on its GarCitrin ingredient, which covers the use of hydroxycitric acid (HCA) in combination with garcinol in products aimed at body composition and weight management. Garcitrin combines a distinct composition of HCA with garcinol, a polyisoprenylated benzophenone isolated from Garcinia cambogia and Garcinia indica fruits. Garcinol enhances the biological action of HCA and contributes antioxidant activity to the formulation. The combination of calcium salt HCA and garcinol reduces fatty acid and lipid synthesis and improves lean body mass much more effectively than HCA alone.
Silbenol is Sabinsa’s proprietary pterostilbene ingredient which is a natural extract from the bark and heartwood of the Indian Kino tree (Pterocarpus marsupium). According to Sabinsa, the blood sugar lowering effects of P.marsupium were well known in India long before pharmacological studies of the tree were undertaken.
Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the bark and heartwood have been administered with success to diabetic animal models; and tablets, granules decoctions, and other preparations containing P. marsupium (heartwood identified as plant part utilized in some articles), alone or as a multi-ingredient formulations, have also been successful in reducing the blood sugar of diabetic humans.
The ingredients covered by the new patent are aimed at the dietary supplement category at the moment, Majeed said, so Sabinsa has not pursued GRAS status. But a functional food application is something the company is looking at for the future, he said.
Developing strategy
Sabinsa, which has a long list of proprietary botanical extracts and other supplement and functional food ingredients in its product list, has long pursued a strategy of vertical integration, using its own extraction facilities in India and relationships with growers there and elsewhere. Sabinsa even offers contract manufacturing capabilities trough its facility in Payson, UT. This latest patent builds on that strategy, Majeed said.
“This patent single handedly shows how such a company like Sabinsa can deliver a technology by harnessing its vast pool of resources; cultivation, sourcing, extraction, raw material purification, and R&D, to emphasize both raw material and finished good dosages, quality clinical research, to finally protecting the intellectual property we develop on such a combination. Marketing companies can advance easily into the marketplace and onto the shelf with our patented composition and use for weight management, as much of the work is already done by us,” Majeed said.