“Blue ocean to explore” in closing gaps between nutraceutical and pharmaceutical worlds

22 Apr 2021 --- There is a noticeable rise in nutraceutical companies seeking to enter the pharmaceutical industry. Broader networking and sales opportunities are financially attractive, but sharper regulatory hurdles make it difficult for “just anyone” to make the transition.

Reflecting on their respective initial experiences of these industry overlaps, experts from Pharmactive Biotech and Aker Biomarine reveal to NutritionInsight the challenges faced and opportunities yet unseized.

Restaffing with pharma in mind
Pharmactive is tapping into the pharmaceutical market with its branded ingredients, such as affron saffron extract, for supporting mental health.

To ensure a smooth transition, the Spain-based ingredients provider has appointed clinical pharmacologist and pharmacological nutritionist Dr. Paul Clayton as chair of its scientific advisory board.

He is joined by Pharmactive’s new medical advisor, Dr. Carlos Galmarini, founder and CEO of Topazium Smart Medicine, a biomedical and pharmaceutical artificial intelligence platform based in Madrid, Spain.

“Including high-level medical and natural science experts on the advisory board enables Pharmactive to combine and reconcile the two worlds of pharma and nutraceuticals,” says Jean-Marie Raymond, CEO at Pharmactive.

The “strategic move” aims to benefit both consumers and medical practitioners, while helping the pharmaceutical business provide greater value to their patrons.

Pharmactive’s saffron extract targets can be used as stand-alone or enhance pharmaceutical mood health products.Supporting the science
The new industry entry is not projected to change Pharmactive’s ingredient portfolio, but rather offer rigorous scientific studies to support practitioners.

“The transition from nutraceuticals to pharma requires years of scientific research as well as education efforts,” affirms Julia Díaz, head of marketing at Pharmactive.

“We have a wide range of botanical branded ingredients that can be combined with pharmaceutical products. Actually, pharmaceutical companies seek to incorporate innovative and natural ingredients in their products and accelerate innovation in the market,” she explains.

As a science-oriented company, Aker Biomarine also looks to add new angles from a research perspective in the pharmaceutical industry, following its first commercial pharmaceutical agreement this January.   

“Deficiency of EPA or DHA is seen in many diseases,” explains Christine Strømhylden Lunder, innovation project lead at Aker BioMarine. 

“The scientific finding on transporting EPA and DHA into specific organs such as the eye and the brain opens many opportunities that are more disease-specific.” 

The Lysoveta launch was motivated by research that identified LPC as a primary carrier molecule of DHA and EPA across the blood-brain barrier.Not possible in nutra sector alone
Aker Biomarine initially partnered with Medical Food Solutions Research to develop pharmaceutical therapies for brain and eye health based on Aker BioMarine’s product Lysoveta, lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC)-bound EPA and DHA.

“When we understood the unique opportunity in getting LPC-bound EPA and DHA available for both end-consumers and to researchers to increase activity in this field, it was clear that we can go beyond the supplement segment,” says Strømhylden Lunder.

Entering the pharmaceutical sector ultimately allows Aker Biomarine to collaborate with people “we wouldn’t normally target in the nutraceutical sector,” she continues.

“We are opening our doors to experienced people from the biotech industry.” 

Rough on regulation
The sizable benefits to research, market and profit in the pharma sector come at a price – and not just in monetary terms.

Díaz emphasizes the process of regulatory compliance in pharma is “long and challenging,” which is why Pharmactive first focuses on delivering science-backed evidence of its ingredients.

“The regulatory requirements are higher when you are pursuing opportunities within pharmaceutical therapies,” adds Strømhylden Lunder. 

“We are aware our core expertise and experience lies within the supplement segment. 

“To bridge this gap, we are taking a collaborative approach to the pharmaceutical opportunities, seeking partners that can complement our strengths and together build a stronger setup than we could have done alone.”

On top of Aker Biomarine’s partnership with Medical Food Solutions Research, the company also scored its first US university partnership for continued research on LPC’s function on brain and eye health. 

Antidepressants’ low adherence and side effects are “gaps partially or not at all covered” by traditional pharmaceutical solutions.What pharma can gain from nutraceuticals
Because nutra- and pharmaceuticals target similar health and wellness categories, the lines can blur between the two industries.

“We see a lot of the insight and results from one segment also benefiting the other,” notes Strømhylden Lunder. 

“Understanding how a diseased state is linked to a deficit in some nutrients enhances our understanding of how to maintain a healthy function and how important the right nutrition is for our general health.”

In this industry Venn diagram, antidepressants’ low adherence and side effects are “gaps partially or not at all covered” by traditional pharmaceutical solutions, Díaz shares as an example. On the other hand, she continues, natural ingredient solutions can work synergistically without adding extra side effects. 

“It is essential to start introducing natural solutions by science to supplements and get extra help in those fields of medicine,” she says. 

Overall, Díaz views a particular untapped potential for collaboration. “Both industries can work together for the interest of the patients and consumers. There is definitely a lack of scientific knowledge about the safety of pharma and nutra combinations.”

“Here, there is a blue ocean to explore due to the lack of meeting points at congresses and educational initiatives, so they can learn from and complement each other,” she concludes.

By Anni Schleicher