Policy & Regulation
Congress will be on Capitol Hill briefly after 5 November elections before current session ends. It hasn’t prioritized re-authorizing 2018 farm bill, which de-scheduled hemp as a controlled substance. Until changes come through farm bill re-authorization or other legislation, federal definition of lawful hemp will remain any part of the cannabis plant containing no more than 0.3% concentration of delta-9 THC.
At its most recent meeting, delegates to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization’s Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) discussed international harmonization guidelines for probiotics as constituents in foods and dietary supplements, based on a proposal to align international regulatory frameworks with guidelines established by the FAO/WHO.
Provision in Wyden and Merkley’s “Cannabinoid Safety and Regulation Act” referencing FDA authority outside hemp-derived ingredients could provide agency with needed authority to force from the market products labeled as supplements but containing drugs or eliminate the use of many safe ingredients in supplements.
Streamlined process for reporting problems is key piece of “unified Human Foods Program” which officially launched on 1 October, as Commissioner Robert Califf says, “a new model for field operations and other modernization efforts.”
Business
Control of Sanofi Consumer Healthcare – recently rebranded as Opella – may soon pass to US private-equity firm CD&R but the French firm looks set to retain a substantial stake in a business which has some big Rx-to-OTC switches in the pipeline.
CRN/Radicle Trailblazing Woman Award to ChromaDex’s Yasmeen Nkrumah-Elie; Nourish’s TV ad campaign features US soccer star Alex Morgan; Vitamin Shoppe BodyTech Elite Altered Strength line sponsors Team Red, White & Blues; contract pharma/consumer health product development firm LabConnect appoints Wesley Wheeler CEO; Avanos’ Game Ready is “Recovery Partner” of NFL’s Nick Bosa; Akita adds Robert Hanson to advisory board; and BODi has wrestler as brand ambassador
Bayer adds dry eye treatment to its Bepanthen skin care range; Stada launches special edition Elotrans supplement for Eintracht Frankfurt fans; Hermes offers chewable magnesium supplement; and Klosterfrau introduces Oyono Night extension to help troubled sleepers maintain their immunity.
ProBiotix Health has announced two commercial partnerships for the distribution of its probiotic ingredients, with Deutsch-Pharm in Ukraine and Eifron in Greece respectively.
Innovation & IP
Bayer adds dry eye treatment to its Bepanthen skin care range; Stada launches special edition Elotrans supplement for Eintracht Frankfurt fans; Hermes offers chewable magnesium supplement; and Klosterfrau introduces Oyono Night extension to help troubled sleepers maintain their immunity.
ProBiotix Health has announced two commercial partnerships for the distribution of its probiotic ingredients, with Deutsch-Pharm in Ukraine and Eifron in Greece respectively.
Country Life Vitamins launches healthy aging support line as it announces less than half of US consumers in a recent survey were aware of biological processes that affect aging. Groupe Berken and Arctic Biosciences partner to bring to North America herring caviar oil extract in a supplement designed to support optimal health across all life stages.
Monaco-based Sérélys markets pollen-based supplements for a range of women's health issues, including premenstrual syndrome, postpartum discomfort and menopause.