Swedish probiotics company BioGaia said this week that it has signed an agreement with US company Nature's Sunshine Products to improve distribution of its products in the US market.
The agreement which is expected to boost sales of Reuteri tablets in the US, gives Nature's Sunshine exclusive sales rights to Reuteri tablets via multi-level marketing.
The Reuteri tablets are currently marketed by McNeil Consumer Healthcare and have been sold in the US mainly via grocery stores, said the company. The agreement with Nature's Sunshine will mean that the BioGaia products are sold in natural health stores, pharmacies and other multi-level marketing outlets, where customers are offered detailed information about the efficacy of the product.
"Our experience from the collaboration with McNeil clearly shows that products of this type can't just be placed on store shelves, but that you need to have personnel who know the products and provide product information at the point of sale," said Peter Rothschild, managing director of BioGaia.
BioGaia said it is also planning to conduct discussions with companies that distribute products to the natural health trade and pharmacies. Sales to Nature's Sunshine will begin during the first quarter 2003.
BioGaia is in the process of discontinuing tablet sales to McNeil but will continue to work with them in development of new products.
BioGaia is starting a clinical study on patients suffering from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) in co-operation with McNeil.
The company also announced recently its first order from South Korea for its Reuteri tablets and Reuteri culture for manufacturing of infant formula. Sales are to start during the first quarter 2003.
The Reuteri tablets, the same type of tablets being sold in Sweden, the US, South Africa and Spain, will be marketed in South Korea by SunPlus Corporation. The Reuteri culture will be added to infant formula products manufactured and marketed by Nam Yang Dairy, South Korea's leading producer of infant formula.
The market for probiotics is growing rapidly in Asia, where there is growing consumer awareness of the importance of the gastrointestinal tract for general health.
Rothschild said the order would offer "a solid foothold in the Korean market and we anticipate that this will lead to increased volumes in the future."
BioGaia already has a collaboration with Lotte Ham & Milk Company, which sells yoghurt beverages with Reuteri in Korea.