The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has again expanded its nationwide alert to consumers about weight loss products that contain undeclared – and often very harmful – pharmaceutical ingredients.
In a move that has divided industry, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told German pharma giant Bayer in no uncertain terms to cease making disease reduction claims about products that contain both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical ingredients.
Forbes Medi-Tech has reported a 27 per cent increase in sales of its phytosterols in the first six months of 2008, indicating strong on-going potential for ingredients aimed at cholesterol reduction.
A starch-based film coating for nutraceuticals which can be
tailored to manufacturer's needs is being developed through a
strategic partnership by Roquette and Biogrund.
The maker of a dietary supplement sold for sexual enhancement has
issued a voluntary nationwide recall of its product following
accusation it contains prescription drugs.
Best Formulations has received Therapeutic Goods Administration
(TGA) certification for compliance with manufacturing
standards in Australia, thereby opening up a wider market for its
services.
Consumers are being warned by FDA to steer clear of three red
yeast products being sold on the Internet for fear they may
contain an unauthorized drug that is hazardous to health.
Canadian supplier Advitech has announced it is taking its psoriasis
product Dermylex to France and Belgium through a distribution
agreement with a pharmaceutical corporation, Iprad Santé S.A.
Naturex is strengthening its presence on the European plant extract
scene with the acquisition of Italy's Hammer Pharma for €10m - a
move that also marks in earnest its entry to the world of
pharmaceutical ingredients.
Swedish biotech BioGaia has signed an exclusive agreement with a
major OTC and pharmaceutical company for the distribution of
probiotic tablets and oral health products in Indonesia.
The FDA has exerted post-market regulatory muscle by testing the
contents of several sexual health supplements sold via the Internet
in a first-of-its-kind survey and subsequently issued a warning, in
which it calls them illegal drugs.
Two new studies have added weight to arguments in the debate over
whether or not interaction between herbal remedies and prescription
drugs poses a significant threat to the public.
A Dutch consortium setting out develop biomedical materials to
improve medical care and patients' quality of life may also benefit
the supplements sector through research into capsules for
controlled release of active substances...
The University of Illinois at Chicago's (UIC) NAPRALERT, the
world's largest database on herbs and medicinal plant research, is
now available on-line, providing easier access to this goldmine of
herbal information.
Perrigo is planning to develop and market store brand nutritional
products using SCOLR Pharma's proprietary controlled delivery
technology (CDT) drug delivery platform.
Supplement ingredient developer Humanetics said today that it has
entered into a multi-year alliance with drug discovery firm Medisyn
Technologies to create a range of natural compounds for disease
prevention.
Swiss research institute VitaPlant is embarking on a research
project to develop six new plant extracts, in partnership with US
natural products supplier EuroPharma. Jess Halliday speaks
to Dr Bernd Bueter about plans to market the...
A new bill proposing that risk-benefit analysis of dietary
supplements should not be dose dependent would make for a 'bad
law', according to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA),
and seems to have been predicated...
The packaging of herbal dietary supplements too closely resembles
that of drugs, according to the American Medical Association (AMA),
which is campaigning for a change in labeling, packaging and
advertising regulations to make the...
UK dosage form specialist BioProgress gave the first insight into
its much-anticipated strategic review yesterday, just over a month
after the departure of former CEO Graham Hind, reports Phil
Taylor.
Almost half the arthritis patients surveyed by UK doctors were
using herbal remedies but many were unaware of potential
interactions with conventional drugs, reports Dominique
Patton.
UK-based Micap has bought the German microencapsulation firm Rendel
& Scherer for around €1 million in a bid to grow its sales in a
new market, reports Dominique Patton.
Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties Europe has launched an
excipient that it claims allows tablets to be produced using lower
compression force, which should result in reduced wear and tear on
tabletting machinery and operational...
Scottish drug delivery and encapsulation specialist Encap has
invested approximately £1.2 million (€1.7m)in new premises in order
to boost its manufacturing capacity by 50 per cent.
Canadian company Natural Factors believes it has set a new
benchmark in the research and testing of its echinacea-based
product, Echinamide, Philippa Nuttall reports.
A traditional Indian herbal, long believed to lower cholesterol
levels, may interfere with nearly 60 per cent of prescription
drugs, including the popular anti-cholesterol drugs statins,
according to recent research.
The Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products - set up under the new
EU legislation designed to investigate the safety of herbal
medicines - is holding its inaugural meeting in London.
Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda will sell off its stakes in
five non-core joint ventures, including the vitamins business that
it operates with Germany's BASF, according to reports.
Dutch specialty chemicals group Noviant has developed a certified
GM-free disintegrant for use in tablets, allowing supplement makers
to continue supplying a full range of products without having to
add labels required under new European...
Evidence that the herbal St John's wort may cause important
interactions with conventional drugs, or even drug resistance, is
poor, say researchers in this week's British Medical Journal.
Herbal companies looking for new products may not need to go far to
find new medicinal plants, according to a review, which finds that
weeds have produced more drugs and natural remedies than tropical
plants found in the rainforest.
Manufacturers took a closer look at the rules governing botanical
extracts in the US, Europe and Canada at the industry's first
integrative medicine and natural healthcare exhibition this month.
Calls heard for a common set of...
The growing use of dietary supplements has caused alarm in recent
months among the medical community who fear dangerous interactions
with prescription medicines. But a new study concludes that most
potential drug-supplement interactions...
Women's use of all medications, including herbal supplements, is
higher than anticipated, and they're unlikely to tell their health
care providers about the medications they take, according to a
University of Minnesota researcher.
The real amount of active ingredient in over-the-counter St John's
wort 'varies greatly' and can be up to 114 per cent of the amount
on the label, according to a new study in the Journal of the
Science of Food and Agriculture.
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has released
medical guidelines on the clinical use of dietary supplements and
nutraceuticals, to better educate doctors about the risks and
benefits of natural products, it claims.
Drug delivery firm Capricorn Pharma has signed a deal with
International Specialty Products giving ISP worldwide marketing
rights to its range of microencapsulated ingredients for
supplement, OTC and oral care applications.
Nutraceutical ingredients supplier Health Sciences Group is to push
forward patents for its new CoCare product line born from the
recent synergy with Quality Botanical Ingredients.
Long-term use of the herbal St John's wort may reduce the efficacy
of at least 50 per cent of drugs taken by Americans, owing to its
effect on CYP enzymes, shows a small study in today's issue of
JAMA.
Canadian firm Forbes Medi-Tech has issued a statement saying that
Pan Pharmaceuticals, involved in a major product recall in
Australia, plays no part in the manufacturing of its Reducol
ingredient. Forbes also sold its ADD business...
Researchers question the efficacy of the hormone DHEA, taken in
supplement form to help treat cancer and Alzheimer's disease, in a
new study showing it had no effects on cognition in Alzheimer's
patients.
New York retailer Tai Chien is recalling a product marketed to help
hypertension, after finding that several of its ingredients are
prescription drugs, with potentially serious health risks to
consumers.
An estimated one-quarter of the prescription drugs sold in the
United States, Canada and Europe contain active ingredients derived
from plants, claims a new report from BCC research. Global
over-the-counter sales of plant-derived...
A botanicals research project has been launched by ingredients
supplier Unigen Pharmaceuticals and the consultants Botanical
Liaisons to discover new plants that could be used in natural
medicines.
Health products company the Quigley Corporation said this week that
its natural nasal spray was found effective in clinical trials in
reducing influenza symptoms.
The health unit of speciality chemicals manufacturer Croda
Chemicals Europe is to expand lipid production in the UK, following
increased market demand for high purity, high potency lipids in
nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, it...
Washington-based biopharmaceutical company SCOLR has said that it
has completed a biotrial providing Proof of Concept for its Self
Correcting Oral Linear Release drug delivery systems in human
subjects.
A tropical daisy could be the answer for patients with skin
disorders, according to research presented at the British
Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester, England this week.
Researchers hope that the plant, which is a traditional...