| Raisio Group tie up with British Bio for marketing Benecol, plans to enter China, South Asia
Finland-based Raisio Group, a plant-based nutrition major has major plans to enter Asian region with its flagship product Benecol. The product contains the active ingredient plant Stanol Ester known to reduce cholesterol levels. The company is scouting for partnership opportunities not only with the Indian food sector but with those in China and South East Asia.
As part of its Asian market foray, the company entered into a business partnership with the Rs 100 crore British Biological, a leader in the nutraceutical supplement space in India. Raisio is providing plant stanol ester in powder form to the company for ColRed, an ethically promoted nutritional supplement for cholesterol control.
Benecol was introduced in 1995 and by 1999, Raisio covered markets of Europe, US and 30 other countries including South America and South Africa.
We Are What We Eat: Lowering Cholesterol The Old-Fashioned Way
Recent results from a small clinical trial raised confusing questions about the value of several widely used cholesterol medicines such as Zetia and its sister drug, Vytorin. The future of these drugs now depend on three large clinical trials that may show conclusively if the drugs reduce heart attacks and strokes. Currently underway, these trials are not expected to be completed until 2011. Yet, according to nutrition experts, diet still remains key to lowering cholesterol levels. "There are two root causes of high cholesterol--heredity and diet," says Dr. Richard M. Goldfarb, a medical director of the Bucks County Clinical Research Center who is working with eFoodSafety.com, an Arizona-based biotech company developing nutraceutical and whole food products. "Millions of Americans have dangerously elevated levels of LDL, or 'bad' cholesterol, due primarily to unhealthy diets and lack of exercise.
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