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HEPI's patented food agent set for lucrative revenue streams

BIO MED REPORT
Written by Leonard Halliday Berner
Thursday, 11 November 2010 04:51

Health Enhancement Products (OTCBB: HEPI) appears to have achieved the holy grail of nutritional supplements/functional foods- an agent that both substantially lowers LDL & raises HDL cholesterol.

In 2007, two human clinical trials were conducted in Cameroon at the University of Yaounde which showed significant reduction in c-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, and LDL cholesterol.


Health Enhancement Products, Inc. Finalizes Due Diligence With Zus Health, LLC


On Wednesday, shares rose 7% after we alerted premium subscribers that the company had announced the satisfactory completion by Zus Health of their due diligence review of the company and the immediate execution of a multi-year exclusive worldwide distribution agreement for ProAlgazyme (PAZ), HEPI’s proprietary freshwater algae infusion.

Per the terms of the agreement, previously negotiated between the two parties and detailed in a press release by the company on September 8, 2010: “HEPI has granted the Distributor the exclusive right to distribute ProAlgaZyme(R) to customers and distributors worldwide, excluding pharmaceutical applications and food, supplement, and medicinal ingredient applications outside of multi level, network or affiliate marketing ("MLM"). In addition, HEPI has reserved the right to market and sell isolates and natural and synthetic derivatives of ProAlgaZyme(R) in pharmaceutical applications, as well as ingredient applications outside of MLM.”

The new announcement states that an upfront payment of $255,000 was made to HEPI today. In return HEPI will license its proprietary algal extract to Zus effective immediately. In addition to the upfront payment, the agreement calls for monthly orders that increase as production capabilities are enhanced.

Brad Robinson, Zus Health Chairman, stated: “We’ve completed our due diligence and scientific review of the benefits of PAZ™. We are excited to bring PAZ ™ to market as it has shown such promise in improving Cholesterol levels and offers additional health benefits. It’s our intent to immediately begin our marketing efforts and build orders across sales channels worldwide for PAZ™.”

In an exclusive interview with BioMedReports, John Gorman, HEPI Director and Board Member, stated that “beginning with the first shipment to Zus in January, by the provisions of this contract, the company will be paid a guaranteed monthly payment for product shipment. This monthly payment amount will escalate throughout the life of the contract.” He added: "This agreement marks the completion of just the first step in the company’s overall strategy towards successful monetization of this unique product. By retaining all rights to PAZ isolates and derivatives, we are insuring our ability to proceed to the second and third phases of our strategy, i.e., sales to food, sports drink and supplement/nutraceutical manufacturers, and ultimately development of pharmaceutical applications. The potential revenue from these aforementioned streams could be staggering.”

Gorman also reiterated what was said in Wednesday’s press release “we want to ensure that as we begin to deliver our product to a mass audience, that PAZ retains its unique beneficial effects, even as production volume exponentially grows. To this extent, we’ve engaged well-regarded scientists, including algal physiologist Dr. Barry Rosen, to insure the maintenance of the integrity and stability of the biomass used to produce our product.” The company also announced that it has contracted with the Bigelow Laboratory Center for Ocean Sciences to conduct genomics tests and culturing studies to help maintain and enhance the Company’s proprietary stock of algae cultures, as well. Mr.Gorman concluded “HEPI has a great opportunity to break out and build tremendous volume based on our current research and findings.”

What has really excited clinical investigators is significant elevation in HDL, or good cholesterol.

In March, 2009, HEPI awarded a research grant to the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University (WSU), ranked among the nation’s top 50 public universities engaged in basic and applied biomedical research by the National Science Foundation, to analyze the effects of PAZ on cholesterol and inflammation under a more rigorous protocol and to isolate the various bioactive components.

In July of 2009, Dr. Smiti Gupta, the principal investigator of the research team, reported preliminary results from a three month clinical trial on hamsters which confirmed the PAZ was found to reduce LDL cholesterol levels from 131.7 mg/dl to 79.57 mg/dl, a decrease of 39.6%, and to improve HDL cholesterol levels from 105.27 mg/dl to 138.67 mg/dl, an increase of 24% in test animals. In October, 2009, Dr. Gupta reported that PAZ produced a 26.1% decrease in plasma lipid oxidation. Oxidative stress has been linked with inflammation in general and, if left unchecked, a wide variety of conditions and impairments in the human body. In early November, 2009, Professor of Pathology Dr. Fazlul Sarkar, conducting tests at the WSU School of Medicine, released results, although characterized as preliminary until a formal paper is presented for peer review, that point to significant and marked inhibition of certain inflammatory processes at the cellular level. Dr. Sarkar stated "This may be a breakthrough in the management of inflammation, whether that inflammation is caused by metabolic issues, injury or disease. There are few, if any, anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds that exhibit a similar range of desirable benefits with little or no measurable unwanted side effects."

John Gorman, when asked about the potential exploitation of PAZ’s anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative benefits, replied: “We wanted to focus our resources and we picked cholesterol regulation because there is nothing out there at this point for HDL like PAZ. It is obviously the largest market & probably afforded us the quickest results to obtain. In the future, I think that revenues from cholesterol regulation could fund all the other avenues of investigation that I believe will lead to lucrative additional revenue streams.”

In February and March of 2010, HEPI filed for and received multiple provisional patents for the various molecules in PAZ, as well as one for the mechanism of PAZ’s action in raising HDL cholesterol and lowering LDL cholesterol. In a press conference in June, 2010, Drs. Gupta, Sarkar and Dr. Denis M. Callewaert, the company’s Chief Science Officer, revealed that ProAlgazyme achieved the aforementioned results by acting on the genetic level. PAZ up-regulated the production of proteins for the enzymes APOA1, ABCA1 and SRB1 by 100%. These all facilitate the removal of cholesterol. At the same time, it down-regulated the production of CETP, an enzyme that reverses the removal of cholesterol from the body, by 50%. PAZ works on the production of these proteins from the DNA. It does not alter the function of these proteins nor the uptake of cholesterol in the diet. It also does not work on the production of HDL in the liver. It changes the rate of synthesis of key proteins involved in lipoprotein metabolism.

At present, researchers are nearing the isolation of the one molecule that most dramatically affects this mechanism. It is hoped that this will be achieved before year’s end. HEPI has hired GRAS Associates of Bend, OR to assist them in achieving GRAS status. This will allow the company to sell PAZ to food and supplement/nutraceutical manufacturers. Speculation is that this may be completed within the next thirty to sixty days.

Disclosure: Long HEPI

Read the full report: http://biomedreports.com/2010111159907/hepis-patented-food-agent-set-for-lucrative-revenue-streams.html#ixzz14ynd7Cpz



Alot to chew on there ..... including reminding everyone of the preliminary tests on inflammation last year. Inflammation ...... IS A BIGGER MARKET OPPORTUNITY THAN CHOLESTEROL.