Valensa International announced it will begin to offer ZanthinNEX Astaxanthin commercially in late 2014. ZanthinNEX is a form of the carotenoid astaxanthin and  produced by a proprietary process using natural enzymatic conversions that produces a safe, finished product. This makes the product "nature equivalent" to conventional astaxanthin, allowing it to function the human body just as an algae-derived product would. Valensa expects to complete regulatory approvals and GRAS (generally recognized as safe) approvals prior to the commercial launch.

“When we talk about a ‘nature equivalent’ ingredient, it means we employ natural enzyme-based conversion to create the critical raw material necessary to manufacture ZanthinNEX. By analogy, in traditional astaxanthin manufacture, Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae starts with in situ synthesized beta carotene as the initial building block, which is then converted in many complex enzymatic steps to yield S, S’-astaxanthin," said Rudi E. Moerck, Ph.D., president and CEO of Valensa. " We use a related process to make ZanthinNEX by employing advanced enzyme-based technology to create the final correct optical centers in ZanthinNEX, totally matching the astaxanthin made with algae, but without some of the unwanted byproducts found in algae-derived astaxanthin.  The final product is actually of higher assay and purity than astaxanthin produced in open ponds or even closed photo bioreactor systems, without the taste and odor issues encountered in some natural astaxanthin extracts."

ZanthinNEX's enhanced bioavailability could lead to lower supplementation levels in finished products, which could potentially lower costs for consumers. ZanthinNEX, like Zanthin natural astaxanthin by Valensa, will be stabilized using the proprietary O2B Peroxidation Blocker stabilization system to provide long-term product stability and higher efficacy for consumers.

“We need to resist that temptation and hold the line against substituting synthetic products.  For this reason, the products that we offer our customers should be based on optically active materials just like in nature," Moerck said. "They should be studied for safety, efficacy, and bioequivalence and supported by sound science. To do anything less than this goes against our customer’s expectations."