Replies to post #287824 on Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[Will Lar]

Jasbg - have you read the article before making the comments?

Cut & Paste below the funding and authors of this article. I met Adam Ismail personally in 2010. He is a very respectable person and I have high regards to him. I remember he was the chairman of GOED back then, a well respected governing body of O3 industry (a non-profit one).

I believe encapsulation technology has drastically improved over the last ten years. Oxidation is a concern, but far from a show-stopper from taking O3 or Vascepa. Unless you show me the side-by-side comparison data of O3 vs Vascepa oxidation over time, I wouldn't think Vascepa capsule is that superior to O3's especially those of the high-end ones by Nordic Naturals, etc. That said, capsule is often used by marketing folks to make audience think it's different and better, but rarely substantiated by solid scientific data. After all, encapsulation is all outsourced to third party encapsulators and there are only a handful of them out there. I believe Amarin uses Banner which has contracts with many other O3 brands.

5. Conclusion

This study has found that the 48 EPA/DHA omega-3 dietary supplements with the largest market penetration in the U.S. largely complied with the industry limits for oxidative quality of EPA/DHA oils set voluntarily by producers and finished products manufacturers. Most products adhere to the FDA requirement that natural ingredients should contain at least 80 % of the labeled content. It is nevertheless challenging to evaluate the compliance for products sold in the U.S. given the lack of government regulations on oxidative quality specific to dietary supplements, and content labeling requirements that are currently not clear. This study highlights the variety of omega-3 LCPUFA products available to consumers, some methodological limitations associated with currently available products and formulations, and the importance of taking into account analytical variability when reporting on compliance. Good product storage conditions are suggested based on absence of correlation between the chemical markers and the product expiration. Room for continued improvement in quality of EPA/DHA finished products in the U.S. is however suggested since nearly half of 17 tested products for which all quality parameters could be tested did not meet at least one of the oxidative quality criteria or the label claim for EPA + DHA content.
Funding

The purchase of products and shipping costs were financed by GOED. Laboratory services and materials were provided by each of the participating laboratories. G.B., H.R. and A.B. are employees of GOED. A.F., C.M., L.N., R.H., J.I., K.P., L.L. and A.I. are employees of companies that are members of GOED. A.I. was an employee of GOED at the time the study was conducted. S.W. is an employee of UC Davis, and A.P. was a M.Sc. student at UC Davis supported by funding from the Department of Chemistry at UC Davis and GOED.
Author contributions

A.B. and A.F. analyzed U.S. market data. A.I. collected finished products and organized sample distribution to the different laboratories. A.I. and G.B. coordinated the study. C.M., L.N., R.H., J.I., K.P., L.L., A.P. and S.W. performed chemical analysis and data analysis. G.B. and A.I. analyzed results and wrote the manuscript. H.R. provided input on regulatory aspects. A.B. provided input on statistical analysis. All authors revised the manuscript.
Declaration of Competing Interest

G.B., A.B. and H.R. are employees of the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s (GOED), a 501(c)6 not-for profit trade association. A.F, C.M., L.N., R.H., J.I., L.P., L.L., and A.I. are employees of manufacturers of ingredients and supplements, and are members of GOED.
Acknowledgements

The authors thank the analytical laboratories for their collaboration and independent analyses. Vangie Lund is acknowledged for helping with sample organization.