Portfolio Updates
PROVEXIS PLC AWARDED US PATENT
4 November 2005
Provexis plc, the nutraceutical company that develops scientifically-proven functional and medical foods, has today announced it has received a patent grant from the United States Patent Office covering its FruitflowT technology.
The FruitflowT technology covered by this patent was discovered at the Rowett Research Institute in 1998 and has been developed and clinically tested by Provexis since 2000. FruitflowT contains a bioactive extract from tomatoes which has been proven in human trials to inhibit blood platelet aggregation and thereby reduce the risk of thrombosis, a primary cause of heart attack and stroke.
The technology already has patent protection in Europe, granted in July 2003, and in Australia, granted in August 2004. It is also anticipated that patent protection will be granted in Japan, Mexico and Canada in the near future.
Provexis will be launching the FruitflowT technology in its lead product, the fruit juice drink SircoT, in January 2006 in the UK, which has been approved by HEART UK and will carry the claim "helps to maintain a healthy heart and benefits the circulation".
SircoT is differentiated from existing cholesterol management products in that the benefit is associated with blood thinning and is effective from the first serving. The launch will be targeting a new, emerging category in the functional food market in the UK: heart-healthy functional juices.
The market for heart-healthy foods worldwide is expected to reach US$4.6 billion of sales by the end of 2005.
Dr Stephen Franklin, Chief Executive Officer of Provexis, said: "We are delighted to have been granted the US patent for our FruitflowT technology. We now have patent protection in our two largest target markets, the United States and Europe. This is a critical development in terms of our licensing ambitions and it means that we can start to make significant in-roads into the US functional food market, which is expected to reach US$34 billion of sales by 2010."