WellGen Recognized as Nutraceutical “Innovator” by
Global Business Insights
November 17, 2009, North Brunswick, NJ – A newly released industry analysis highlights WellGen, Inc. as an important innovator in a high growth market. The report describes the significant business potential in nutraceuticals, and distinguishes WellGen among a select group of start-up companies leading innovation in this emerging market. The report entitled, “Key Players and Innovative Start-Ups in Nutraceuticals” analyzes companies engaged in commercializing nutraceuticals, including Nestlé, Danone, Abbott, DSM, and Provexis. The in-depth report was published by Business Insights a leading provider of strategic analysis of innovation in health and wellness.
The report describes the WellGen business model and WellGen’s lead medical food candidate (WG0401):
“The company’s first product – a theaflavin rich black tea concentrate (WG0401) – is an anti-inflammatory agent that, among other effects, decreases expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). COX-2 was the target of multi-billion dollar pharma compounds such as Vioxx, which has been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons. In contrast to Vioxx, WG0401 modulates a number of pro- and anti-inflammatory genes essential to help the body respond to and recover from inflammatory challenges such as intense exercise or illness.”
Commenting on WellGen’s plans for developing medical foods, chief executive officer, Dr. Roddy Carter, MD said, “Despite excellent medical care, there are a large number of major inflammation-related conditions that still challenge us with residual pathology. For WellGen, medical foods will enable us to provide natural product solutions to many of the healthcare challenges faced today.”
The report identifies Medical Foods as a potential growth area for the future; commenting that “The medical foods market should be a lucrative place to market products as these products are often reimbursed and high margin.” According to the report, opportunities for medical foods are increasing for a number of reasons:
- Food technology has advanced to provide for better tasting and better texture medical foods
- Following its launch, there is an opportunity to expand the consumer base of a medical food based on benefits that are relevant to other populations
- Advances in science will continue to link additional diseases to diet and nutrition
The report identifies that innovative players like WellGen are transforming nutraceutical development by conducting “pharma-like” research in order to demonstrate the value of their medical food products. Through this approach, WellGen “may be able to publicize more of the research they have undertaken to establish the nature of the effect of the nutraceutical in treating, preventing or curing a disease state”.
The report notes that these innovative start-ups will be attractive acquisition candidates to significant strategic players. “Key Players and Innovative Start-Ups in Nutraceuticals” specifically states, “The technology to support this process of extraction and testing of novel nutraceutical compounds is only now becoming a reality and has driven the growth of a number of companies that are adopting a biotech approach to nutraceutical development. It is likely that this trend will continue and grow, with the smaller innovative companies of today offering acquisition and licensing opportunities for the largest food and ingredients companies in the near future.”
As for the future of the industry, the report remarks “Emerging companies developing novel extracts or pure compounds and conducting early research before selling to larger players, according to a biotech model, may be representative of the future of the industry. Once a few companies are seen to be commercially successful by applying this model … a new nutraceuticals industry may really take off.”
“We are delighted that WG has been recognized as an innovator by strategic market experts. We are determined to bring value to consumers, health care professionals, and our investors by employing our technology to discover and develop safe medical food products that address major inflammatory diseases.”
If you would like to purchase this report, please contact Paul Rodrigues, global account director of Global Business Insights in the UK: Telephone: + 44 (0) 207 675 7505, Fax: + 44 (0) 207 675 7170, E-mail: prodrigues@globalbusinessinsights.com.
For a copy of WellGen’s primer on medical foods, please contact Bob Hellauer, WellGen CFO at rhellauer@wellgen.com.
About WellGen, Inc.
WellGen, Inc., based in North Brunswick, N.J., is a biotechnology company at the crossroads of foods and pharmaceuticals. Using the science of nutrigenomics, the company has developed Alignomx™, a proprietary bioinformatics model that uses gene expression data to determine optimal therapeutic areas for WellGen’s pipeline of proprietary natural products. Through its in-house expertise in nutrigenomics and natural product chemistry, WellGen is developing proprietary medical foods and has additionally identified several opportunities in the functional food and beverage and dietary supplement markets.
Contact: Patricia Lucas-Schnarre
Vice President, Marketing
WellGen, Inc.
732-565-3890, ext. 4403
