An agreement with Australia's Pan Pharmaceuticals will allow Forbes Medi-Tech to produce and market its cholesterol-lowering ingredient Reducol as a dietary supplement for the first time.
Reducol, which was the name given by Swiss group Novartis to Forbes' phytosterol-based ingredient, has been used in a number of food products such as margarine, but this is the first time that it will be used in tablet or soft-gel capsule form.
Forbes recently agreed to buy the Reducol name from Novartis after the latter group ended its licensing agreement for the ingredient. Although Reducol had failed to live up to the expectations of Novartis, Forbes believes that the name is now well known and that the potential for growth is still high.
The agreement with Pan will see Forbes supply Reducol for an initial period of three years, and will grant the Australian company the exclusive rights to sell the cholesterol-lowering product as a supplement in its domestic market as well as selected countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and three countries in Europe.
"This agreement will give Forbes tremendous exposure in several key international markets," said Charles Butt, president and chief executive officer of Forbes Medi-Tech. "Pan Pharmaceuticals has an intimate working knowledge of the cultures, regulatory systems and product preferences in these markets, which makes it an ideal partner for Forbes."
"Reducol is an outstanding product, which we believe has significant market potential worldwide,"said Jim Selim, managing director of Pan Pharmaceuticals. "We're looking forward to working closely with Forbes to expand their reach into new markets."
Pan Pharmaceuticals is one of the largest contract manufacturers of complementary medicines in the Southern Hemisphere, producing vitamin, mineral, herbal, trace element and nutritional supplement products as well as aromatherapy and homeopathic remedies