The Canadian group said that during the last three months it has taken its product into Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Hong-Kong.
"Asia is a promising market, people's response to the product is highly positive and Neptune krill oil (NKO) seems to be among the next promising products," says Gang He, the director of international sales & marketing.
Tina Sampalis, the vice-president of research/business & development at Neptune added that the Asian market is naturally favorable towards marine products as they are already a major part of the population's daily diet.
Neptune develops and exploits marine biomasses such as krill, red crab and calanus for the nutraceutical, cosmetic, cosmeceutical and biopharmaceutical markets.
One use of the krill oil is as a supplement to help improve some of the symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome, thought to affect more than half of all menstruating women. In May, PharmaNutrients launched a combination of its CLA One brand conjugated linoleic acid with Neptune's krill oil.
Called Fembiance, the product is based on science showing the anti-inflammatory effects of omega-3 fats, which appear to relieve many of the physiological and emotional symptoms of PMS, such as irritability and depression, as well as menstrual pain.
A study published last year in the Alternative Medicine Review (vol 8, no 2, p171) demonstrated that Neptune's krill oil significantly reduced dysmenorrhea and the emotional symptoms of PMS in 70 subjects while also revealing higher efficacy on these symptoms than a comparison fish oil.
The addition of CLA, shown to reduce body fat (and possibly also boost the immune system), has further benefits during menstruation when swelling and bloating are common.
Dysmenorrhea is one of the most common gynecologic complaints in young women who present to clinicians. The symptoms can disrupt personal life and is also a significant public health problem associated with substantial economic loss related to work absences. In the United States, the annual economic loss has been estimated at 600 million work hours and $2 billion in costs.