News

EFSA gives SelenoPrecise the stamp of approval - October 8 2008
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reviewed the extensive safety documentation on Pharma Nord's selenium yeast SelenoPrecise and concluded that the product does not present any safety concern.

SelenoPrecise was already approved by derogation in many EU member states, and the new approval by EFSA confirms the future potential for using SelenoPrecise as a safe and stable selenium ingredient in food products and supplements. With the approval, SelenoPrecise can be marketed in the entire EU.

EFSA's panel on Food Additives stressed that only selenium-enriched yeasts produced by cultures in the presence of sodium selenite and containing selenomethionine as the predominant organic form of selenium were included in the safety approval. Selenocysteine and other organic selenium compounds should not exceed 10 percent.

SelenoPrecise is characterized by a high and stable content of more than 80% organic l-selenomethionine in every batch, and with a uniquely high bioavailability. Both the stability and bioavailability of SelenoPrecise have been documented as higher than any other known selenium source.

The panel also stated that selenium from organic sources, such as selenium yeast, had a documented higher bioavailability and lower toxicity than the inorganic selenium forms of selenite or selenate.

International Medical Q10 Congress held in Prague - Sept. 23 2008
Once again, Pharma Nord teamed up with the International Coenzyme Q10 Association to present the latest medical sciences about Q10 to a large number of doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals. The congress drew more than 600 visitors from all over the world.

More than 600 general practitioners, internists, cardiologists and pharmacists gathered at the Marriott Hotel in Prague on September 13th, to catch up on the latest scientific research about coenzyme Q10. The occasion was the International Medical CoQ10 Congress held by the International CoQ10 Association and Pharma Nord Academy. Among the speakers were some of the worlds foremost experts on coenzyme Q10, who had come from Italy, Denmark, Slovakia, Australia and the United States to share their findings with the assembled medical professionals. The congress was supported by the Czech Chambers of Physicians and Pharmacists, and many local and visiting doctors and pharmacists used it as an opportunity to get up to date on Q10.

"It was a great pleasure to see the large number of medical professionals who chose to participate. The scientific research on Q10 continues to yield exciting results, but if this new knowledge is to have an impact on the life quality and health of the broad population, it is very important that those results are communicated to as many doctors and pharmacists as possible," says technical director of Pharma Nord Sven Moesgaard.

The congress was opened by the President of the International Coenzyme Q10 Association professor G.P. Littaru, who gave a presentation on the importance of Q10 in medical practice. After this introduction, other members of the IQA presented the latest findings from the ongoing Q10 research. Among these were several very interesting results from studies regarding the use of Q10 to prevent the side effects of statin treatment, as well as an update on the large multi-center Q-SYMBIO study, which examines the use of Q10 to treat patients with chronic heart failure.

Lectures were also given on Q10 as an antihypertensive agent and the use of Q10 in a cardiac wellness program in Australia. Apart form a large number of Czech medical professionals, the audience contained participants from Slovakia, Hungary, UK, Turkey, Spain, Thailand, the Ukraine and Japan.

Succesful opening of Pharma Nord Education and Research Center - Sept 5th 2008
A large number of guests were present to witness the official opening of the new Pharma Nord Education and Research Center in the Czech Republic. The Danish ambassador Ole E. Moesby and CEO of Pharma Nord Eli Wallin cut the ribbon, with over 150 specially invited journalists, scientists and members of the neutraceutical industry present at the opening ceremony.

"With the work done in this center, our understanding of the relationship between nutrients and health will be increased and expanded, and we will find new ways of preventing diseases and bring better quality of life to thousands of people," Pharma Nord's CEO Eli Wallin said in his speech at the opening.

The new center attracted much interest, especially from the scientists woh can look foreward to using the center as part of their research. The Education and Research center will be visited by international as well as local experts, and will work with specialists in a number of medical fields from universities from Denmark, Great Britian and the Charles University in Plzen.

The new center will also host education of doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health professionals in communication, coaching, nutrition and sports medicines etc.
The center will also provide training in prevention for patient associations and function as a knowledge center for journalists and teachers from all over the EU.

Pharma Nord product wins awards in Poland - April 24th 2008
For the second year in a row, Bio-CLA from Pharma Nord has been chosen as the best product in two different categories by a Polish pharmacy trade magazine. Bio-CLA won the prize for both "Best anti-celulite product" and "Best slimming product", based on the votes of pharmacists from all over Poland.

Every year, the trade magazine "World of Pharmacy" asks more than 450 pharmacists to vote for the best Over-the-counter and medical products. And for the second year in a row, Pharma Nord was selected as the winner of both the slimming and anti-celulite categories with the product Bio-CLA. The choice is not random, as Bio-CLA has achieved great succes among consumers in the past few years, making it one of the most popular products in its category on the Polish market.

Peter Kaminski, Country Manager of Pharma Nord Poland is very pleased and proud of the awards, and remains confident that Bio-CLA will be able to hold the position long enough to claim the special award given to products that win the category award for five years in a row.

No reason to fear increased mortality from vitamin pills - April 17th 2008
A recently published Cochrane Review of a Danish meta-analysis has prompted news headlines around the world in the direction of "Vitamins may reduce lifespan" and "Certain vitamins could increase mortality". But the meta-analysis is ill suited to draw broad conclusions about the health effects of dietary vitamin and antioxidant supplements taken in recommended doses.

The meta-analysis has been criticised by medical experts for only including a small percentage of available studies, and it has been pointed out that a few studies upset the results of the entire report. Specificly, two large, well known, high-dosage beta-carotene trials involving smokers provided more than half the deaths in the analysis. An reanalysis of the data, where all 25 trials on beta-carotene were excluded, no longer showed any significantly increased mortality due to either vitamin A or E.

Several of the studies are conducted with people who were chronically ill and who were given extremely large doses of certain nutrients in order to see if that would cure them. Such studies are not compatible for comparison with studies carried out on healthy individuals who have been taking vitamin and mineral supplements containing nutrient doses comparable to those found in food supplements.

Also, several of the studies involve such large doses of vitamin E and vitamin A that the levels would never be approved for dietary supplements or high-strength vitamin- and mineral preparations. In fact, some of the doses were potentially toxic, yet the media uncritically link the results of the research to food supplements.

Pharma Nord launches Prelox in Estonia - 26th February 2008
More than 200 doctors and pharmacy staff were gathered in Tallinn on Friday the 22nd of February to learn about sexual dysfunction and the patented male sexual enhancer Prelox.
Pharma Nord already markets Prelox in 11 countries, and Estonia will be the latest to join the club.

The seminar featured several lectures by medical and biochemical experts on the causes of sexual dysfunction and the benifits of Prelox. A portion of the seminar was also dedicated to presenting new research on selenium.

Pharma Nord leads Dutch slimming market - Febuary 14th 2008
For the second year in a row, Pharma Nord's slimming product Bio-T holds the position as the best selling slimming product in the Netherlands. In an article published by pharmacy trade magazine Lijfblad, market research done by IMS Health places Bio-T's market share at 12,5%, well ahead of competing brands who rate siginificantly lower, with market shares of between 2,5% and 5%.

Bio-T was introduced on the Dutch market only two years ago, and has rapidly become popular among consumers, generating a lot of repeat purchases. Bio-T was also nominated for an Lijfblad-IMS Mirror Award for single brands.

• Vitamins and minerals give bigger babies - February 11th 2008 9:46 AM
Pregnant women give birth to bigger and heavier babies when they take supplements of multivitamins and minerals during pregnancy, studies show. As far back as 2005, the leading medical journal The Lancet published a study of 1,200 women showing that babies of mothers who had been given supplements of multivitamins and minerals weighed on average 77 grams more than babies of mothers who had only been given iron and folic acid.
A follow-up of 917 of the babies from this study, recently published in The Lancet, confirms these results. 462 of the children were born by mothers who took multivitamins and minerals, while 455 had mothers who took iron and folic acid. The children of multivitamin and mineral users weighed on average 204 grams more than children from the other group (10.9/10.7 kilograms). Also, these children were bigger, measured by the circumference of their heads, chests and upper arms.
Source: Viadya et al.,The Lancet 2008, Volume 371, Pages 492-499

• Vitamin D deficiency may increase blood pressure - Febuary 6th 2008 3:50 PM
Stress, too much salt and lack of exercise can increase your blood pressure, but now it seems that vitamin D deficiency may have the same effect. Strangely, the phenomenon only seems to occur in Caucasians.
As part of a national health study, American researchers studied 7,699 adults (61% Caucasians and 39% afro-Americans) during the period 1988-1994. They found that Caucasians with sufficient blood levels of vitamin D had a 20 % lower risk of age-related increases in the upper (systolic) blood pressure compared with those who had insufficient vitamin D. A similar link was not seen in afro-Americans. The researchers also noted that 61% of Caucasians and as many as 92% of afro-Americans had insufficient levels of vitamin D, even though vitamin D levels are easy to correct through use of supplements or exposure to sun.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2008.

• Long-term users of dietary supplements have better health - February 4th 2008 1:47 PM
People who take multiple dietary supplements have far better health than those who only take a single multivitamin or no supplements at all. In an extensive study published in the Nutrition Journal, researchers from Berkeley University sent questionnaires to 1200 persons who had been regular users of dietary supplements over the past 20 years. 278 respondents were randomly selected for further blood tests and blood pressure measurements.

The collected data from the tests and questionnaires were the compared to similar data from 176 people who took a daily multivitamin pill and 602 people who did not take any supplements. The three groups were adjusted in advance for income, education, BMI and gender. The study showed that the group of multiple supplement users had significantly lower bio-markers associated with disease risk such as cholesterol, homocysteine, triglycerides and blood pressure and, subsequently, lower risk for diabetes, stroke and other cardiac diseases.
Also, the multi-supplement group had optimal concentrations of different nutrients and had a better self-evaluated health status compared to the two other groups.
Source: Block et al., Nutrition Journal 2007, 6:30.

• The first documented pill against wrinkles - January 27th 2008 12:33 AM
The preparation Evelle that stimulates biological processes of importance to skin ageing has documented that it blocks wrinkles. In a published study conducted by German scientists, women who used Evelle for 12 weeks had significantly smoother skin, and their skin elasticity had also increased compared with the placebo group.
(Source: J Dermatolog Treat. 2004 Jul;15(4):222-6.)

• New production and storage facility - January 23rd 2008 2:53 PM
Pharma Nord is currently building a new production plant in Vojens. With their new production and storage facility they will be able to triple their current production capacity, which is necessary in order to meet the increasing demand for Pharma Nord products in Denmark and abroad. The new facilities will comprise Pharma Nord's entire GMP production.

• Education and Research Centre - January 17th 2008 11:34 AM
Pharma Nord's Czech daughter company, Pharma Nord s.r.o., is currently building a new Education and Research Centre in beautiful surroundings just outside of Prague. The project is partially sponsored by EU and the Czech government who find that the whole idea of preventing by means of improved nutrition is bound to benefit the entire population in the long run. The centre is expected to be completed in 2008.