The deal marks a turning point in the history of Interhealth, which was founded in 1987, said Paul Dijkstra, CEO of Interhealth.
“Kairos acquires companies with strong management teams. They believe in our strategy and they are partners in helping to make that happen,” Dijkstra told NutraIngredients-USA. “Kainos brings deep experience in the nutritional ingredient sector which will assist InterHealth through its next phase of growth.”
“We believe InterHealth is an outstanding organization, led by a management team with a strong commitment to science-based product development and unwavering quality and customer service,” said Andrew Rosen, managing partner of Kainos Capital.
Leveraging the model
Dijkstra said the plan is to grow the InterHealth business via acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
“We will leverage the model that we have. We believe Interhealth has a very strong reputation as a science-based company. I believe that model is very scalable. It’s still a very fragmented market. You have a few companies that are huge—the DSMs, the BASFs—and then there is definitely room for a company in the middle with a turnover of something like $200 million, which is where we aspire to be,” Dijkstra said.
Dijkstra said InterHealth has built a strong network of research partnerships which is one of the things that underpins its list of branded ingredients.
“We are really a research-based nutraceutical company,” Dijkstra said. “Because of the increase in regulation , you have to have research just to be in this market.”
Collagen study
Most recently, InterHealth made news with a joint pain study on healthy individuals using is UC-II denatured collagen ingredient. The study had a huge impact on sales, according to Juliana Erickson, senior marketing manager.
“We did a study on active adults. The primary outcome of that was significant knee extension compared with placebo,” Erickson said.
Interest was piqued when initial results were presented in March, Erickson said, but potential customers really sat up and took notice when the results were published in June.
The study was conducted by Jay Udani, MD of Medicus Research. Initial results of the 17-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with 55 participants were presented first via poster in February at the 2013 Scripps Natural Supplement Conference. The research abstract is published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
“Supplementation with UC-II for seventeen weeks was well-tolerated and more effective than placebo in supporting joint comfort, flexibility and mobility,” Udani reported.
The ingredient is now in more than 20 brands including TFX Health, NOW Foods, Solgar and Schiff. Other branded ingredients in the company’s stable include Super CitriMax, a weight loss and satiety ingredient; Meratrim for weight management; and ChromeMate and Zychrome for blood sugar and insulin control.