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BioLife gets spam boost for Viagra-type product


BioLife Remedies Inc (U:BLRS)
Last Close 2/16/2007 $0.47
Monday February 19 2007 - Street Wire

by Mike Caswell

Chi-Agra is the latest Viagra-type treatment to show up in junk e-mails, claiming to be a natural boost for males having problems in the bedroom. Its developer is a homegrown Vancouver company, BioLife Remedies Inc., which is listed on the pink sheets, home to many lively stocks.

Spammers started issuing e-mails on the product and the stock Wednesday, touting Chi-Agra as poised to enter a $6-billion market, but it appears dubious and could even be toxic in high doses.

Chi-Agra costs $39.99 for a one-month supply and is made from Epimedium, a herb grown in Europe and Asia, according to BioLife's website. Legend has it a Chinese goat herder noticed increased sexual activity in his flock after they ate some, which earned it the nickname horny goat weed.

Its uses are many, if one listens to backers of traditional Chinese medicine. Supposedly it can treat asthma, bronchitis, cervical dysplasia, congestive heart failure, leukorrhea, leukopenia and even viral infections of the heart, according to herbalists.

In spite of its purported array of uses, Epimedium does not appear to have earned much recognition in Western medicine. Animal studies have shown that it can be toxic to the liver and kidneys in high doses and can cause a loss of muscle co-ordination, according to the website About Alternative Medicine.

"There isn't enough information on horny goat weed to safely recommend it for erectile dysfunction," the site says. It cites separate studies by three researchers, including one published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.

A BioLife representative would not answer questions about the product. He advised checking the company's website, which addresses none of the concerns raised by About Alternative Medicine.

He denies the company has anything to do with the spam.

Just a month ago the company was called Emerson Oil & Gas Inc., an oil and gas junior that had nothing to do with herbal remedies. It was then touting a gas interest in Alberta. The stock went to 60 cents in 2004 as the company said commercial production from its properties could be around the corner.

It turned out generating revenue was harder than the company projected. "After a successful exploration and discovery ... the company has been informed by the operator that the decreased flow rates have gotten to a level that is now uneconomical," read a news release issued by the company's then president, David Harker, last September.

It appears Emerson never had any earnings or revenues. It only issued financial results once, in 2005, reporting an $11,000 (U.S.) loss. The stock fell to a three-cent low last month.

Now it has been reincarnated as a maker of herbal remedies, and is also Vancouver's newest spam stock.

The spam not only touts Chi-Agra, it tells readers to buy BioLife, which is "set to massive gains." The company sports a professional looking website, where surfers can read about the company's products, including its herbal help for men.

Its directors, Jack Guo and Terry Xie, do not appear to be known on Howe Street.

The company is one of several helping put Vancouver on the map as a major source of stock market spam. In a 2006 list of spam stocks compiled by the website Spamnation, B.C.-linked companies took nine of the top 10 spots.

The pink sheets website often refuses to display quotes for such companies, telling investors they can be the subject of fraudulent activity. It has not issued such a warning for BioLife.

BioLife gained 12 cents Friday, closing at 47 cents.

© 2007 Canjex Publishing Ltd.