IMPERIAL, Texas—Qualitas Health annouced the launch of the first consumer products based upon Almega PL, marking the company’s transition from research and development into commercialization of the company’s algal omega-3 oil.
Within the past 18 months, Qualitas Health completed all necessary stages of product development through commercialization. These steps included research and development, performing clinical studies, protecting intellectual property, obtaining regulatory approvals, scale-up of algae growth and manufacturing, collaboration with consumer brands, logistics and sales. Through its completion of these benchmarks, Qualitas Health has emerged as the first company manufacturing omega-3 nutrition ingredients using phototropic algae technology to successfully commercialize.
“Making the transition from R&D to commercial scale is always a challenge, and this is a first, major step," said Yuri Shoshan, CEO of Qualitas Health. “These first two products demonstrate the wide range of possibilities available with Almega PL – from a standalone Almega PL product with a vegetarian EPA-only offering, to blends of Almega PL with other algal ingredients to create a vegetarian and sustainable alternative to fish or krill oils. We look forward to continuing to work with dietary supplement brands to develop products with Almega PL, and expect to see several additional consumer product launches within the first half of 2015."
The initial consumer products include: Almega PL, introduced by David Williams and sold by Healthy Directions, which contains EPA and polar lipids from Almega PL; and Veggie Omega-3+ from Mark Merriman at Rejuvenation Science Labs, which is a blend of Almega PL, algal DHA and astaxanthin. Veggie Omega-3+ is positioned as a fully vegetarian LC-PUFA omega-3.
In October, Qualitas Health finalized an exclusive distribution agreement with Lipa Pharmaceuticals for its Almega PL omega-3 ingredient for sale to the dietary supplement industry in Australia and New Zealand.