LONDON (AFX) - Provexis PLC said it has entered into a long-term collaboration agreement with Unilever PLC to jointly develop a new concentrated format of its patented Fruitflow heart-health technology for application in Unilever's food product portfolio.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The partners plan to enter into a global licence arrangement for the technology.

Fruitflow is a patented natural extract from tomato which Provexis said has been shown in human trials to reduce the propensity for aberrant blood clotting that is typically associated with cardiovascular disease and which can lead to heart attack or stroke.

In 2005 the market for heart benefit foods was worth 4 bln usd globally, Provexis added.

Considering the growth potential this share has a target of about 8-10p in the medium tern and is a good buy at current levels

As usual, pls do ur own research.

Dont know exactly which bits but apparently the wording on the fruitflow website has changed, spotted by someone on another bb. So the offical confirmation should be coming anytime now.

Health claim of probiotics not accepted

220m-a-year 'dairy shots' industry in disarray following EU scientists' ruling

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Friday, 2 October 2009

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Claims that so-called 'good bacteria' improve health could not be supported by EU scientists

Claims that so-called 'good bacteria' improve health could not be supported by EU scientists

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Drink this yogurt for a healthier stomach. Thirty million shoppers have swallowed the claims for probiotics as enthusiastically as the sweet fermented milk in the belief that "good bacteria" will defeat "bad bacteria" in epic microscopic battles inside our bodies.

But claims that probiotic ingredients improve health can not be supported, according to an extensive review of scientific research by a team of experts from the European Union.

Of 180 claims for probiotic ingredients, the EU's food agency the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) threw out every one. Ten were rejected outright and a 21-member expert panel could not assess the remaining 170 because the ingredients for which the claims were made could not be identified.
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The findings on ingredients such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium are an embarrassment to the UK's 220m-a-year "dairy shots" industry, which has relied on heavy advertising to persuade shoppers of its products.

However Britain's best-selling yogurt drinks, Actimel and Yakult, were excluded from Efsa's findings yesterday because Danone, Actimel's maker, and Yakult, the Japanese firm which introduced probiotic drinks to the UK in 1996, withdrew their claims before they could be scrutinised.

They have since re-submitted them, but the results will not be available until next year.

Efsa is reviewing all health claims made for food products following the introduction of a new EU law, the 2006 Regulation on Health and Nutrition Claims, which stipulated for the first time that all medical-sounding marketing boasts must be verified. Brands whose claims are not approved will have to stop making the claims.

Efsa has been studying 2,000 applications submitted by member states on behalf of companies. Releasing results on "general health claims" yesterday, Efsa's 21-member expert panel rejected two-thirds of the 523 applications for 200 vitamins, minerals, fibre, fats, carbohydrates, and "probiotic" bacteria.

On probiotics, an Efsa spokeswoman said: "They have been assessed but the outcome was negative or our scientists said they didn't have sufficient evidence to evaluate them."

Yesterday, Danone, the French dairy giant which is thought to have withdrawn three claims for Actimel and Activia from Efsa in April, made no comment.

Yakult, which introduced probiotic drinks to the UK in 1996, said the results did "not relate to Yakult."

Yakult, which markets its best-selling yogurt as "self-defence for your gut", said an application for its principal ingredient, Lactobacillus casei Shirota, had duplicated other claims with Efsa. The Japanese firm said: "Evidence for its health benefit is based on over 70 human studies and over 70 years of research."

Sue Davies, chief policy officer at Which? said the rulings showed that eventually shoppers would be made aware of what did, and did not, work.

"For too long the fact that people are getting more interested in health has been seen as a marketing opportunity, and companies have been putting claims on their products. And now that we are getting systematic research we have been able to say some of these claims cannot be supported."

A great post. Courtesy of Foodeagle from iii board



Very interesting steps made today by EFSA, though it effects PXS only indirectly. According to these articles (google & u will more) EFSA today has published its opinion on more than 500 (!) health claims. These claims are so-called "general function claims made on food ("Article 13.1 claim". I had so far only a very superficial screening on them (more over the WE). Sees about 1/3 positive, and 2/3 of the claim applications are negative. The positive are on vitamines, minerals, fibre, unsaturated fat (= which are basically "nutrients"; ha - if we would not know that nutrients have "funcation" in the body). More interesting: all probiotics negative (will put more pressure on Danone & other dairy producers), also Glucosamine (joint health) negative. Quite many claims seem on plants or herbal extracts - all negative it seem....

It shows how strict EFSA is in its assessment. EXPECT MUCH MORE MEDIA COVERAGE ABOUT EFSA the new EU Regulation which requires ALL health claims to be verified and confirmed by 2010 OR they must be withdrawn next year!

In their totality these EFSA work of today, will have a considerable negative impact (and negative media coverage) on the functional food sector in Europe. These claims today however are "general" or "generic" health claims. Those with a positive EFSA ruling can be used by all companies, so NO exclusivety, thus for a company of rather limited value (much competition in the vitamin/mineral sector, low premiums).

This is different for Article 13.5 Claims of the EU Regulation which are based on "new science" ("innovative) and proprietary data. From the commercial value these claims (because 5 year exclusivety, with patents even longer !). Provexis has received such a positive Art 13.5 EFSA ruling - already end of May - and is still the only one ! Others like Danone, Unilever, Nestle, and severa others failed in this 13.5 procedure. That's why Danone e.g. tries to learn now from Provexis, see here, in case you missed so far:

According to the EFSA website, still more than 3500 Claims still have to be assessed. If you only extrapolate (!) the sofar approx 600 claims assessed by EFSA. Approx. 500 Art 13.1 claims, and approx 100 Art 13.5 and Art 14 claims, you can reasonable expect that 95 % or even more of the 4200 health claims in Europe will be NEGATIVE (!) and must be withdrawn from the European Market !!! - if you leave out the nutrients such as the vitamins, minerals, proteins, unsaturated fats and oils, Fibre.

If it continues like this, basically the European "function food" market will become the "non-functional food market" ...because all these health claims can not be scientifically substantiated. Guys, I am happy, that my company is not very exposed to this development, despite we are still planning to bring one product on the EU market.

As said a few days ago: the EU market for "functional food" in the EU will very considerably shrink in 2010 and 2011 as a consequence of the very strict new EU Regulation and the even more stringent EFSA evaluation. However for those who have successfully passed these hurdles > they will gain all the fruits of a still huge market, without almost any competition thus high premium on the price. And the EU consumer will have higher trust in those (very few) food with health claims remaining in the EU - because of this strict EFSA procdure.

Yawn ! what on earth is all this crap ? sounds like modern Britain full of b-------, on a day when the markets pull back : this non earning 70 million fruity thingything with 5000 earnings goes up, it's going to take one hell of a contract with Cocacola to justify this market cap that's for sure !.

The only reason this isn't going down rf is the fact that so many have been sucked into the hype their only alternative is to sell at a loss. They are all hoping the hype becomes fact and the SP scoots ahead once more. Of course the danger is, if the hype is unfounded the SP will start to fall and all the latecomers will scramble for the exit. BWTFDIK. DYOR blah, blah blah

My question is when are this lot going to spud a well ?.

Some people can get so bitter and twisted. Probally because they missed out on the rise from less than a penny. GET IN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pth--I've always felt your posts are sensible and balanced but this time I struggle to understand why you are so down on this company. Have you done thorough research on it? Do you know how large the market is for health foods bought mainly by the worried well? Activia,Actimel, Yakult etc have a huge following/profits for Danone but very soon they will have to withdraw the medical claims for these productsas they failed the EFSA approval. Fruitflow is the only product to pass but must wait for official approval of it's wording for the products.
Danone is a major shareholder and has been for years in PXS, Coca Cola is in the background. No major co. will announce /sign deals until official wording is passed
so those who hold are waiting and hoping.
meanwhile Sirco fruitflow juice is on sale and generating a small income for the co.
The aspirin substitute trial is due to end soon and the treatment for crohns disease is under development.
There is cause for high hopes here---I remember foolishly selling Autonomy at 50p
and Asos at 10p thinking they were over hyped so I try to remember those mistakes before dismissing a small company. For the health of the great british population I very much hope this co succeeds.
I'm lucky enough to have bought in under 1p, sold a nice chunk and kept a free holding to run with because I believe this co will repay its holders well.
sorry for the long post.

Thank goodness there's someone with a bit of faith...

i'm not sure if a few of you are sniping at Peter, but what he says has considerable validity ...... one of the current great unknowns is what will happen to sp once it goes xr, but unless this magic "eu wording" issue is quickly resolved - for goodness sake, just what is the big problem if this stuff has already proven itself? .... no one hs yet tackled that question - then sp could indeed tumble sharply

CynicPeter is like talking to God.ask him how long is a million years? He would reply a minute." Ask him how much is a million pounds? He would reply a penny." Ask him for a penny? He would reply "Wait a minute."

at least peter replies, unlike God!

No not him,

Fair pointits just you have to wait a minute for his viewand it aint worth a penny when it comes

Does he have a share in this???.....

No!!he writes a little different when he holds

i don't think it makes someone's views invalid just because he doesn't hold shares in a particular company ..... but then i would say that, wouldn't i!

Do you think he could turn the water to fruitflow instead of wine???

for our muslim brethren, i am sure that would be a possibility

And which stocks do I hold Tabasco? As I recall you 'squelched' me some time ago due to my comments on the MDX thread (on which incidentally I was proven entirely correct).

MP, sorry if my comments are on the negative side. I am not anti PXS per se, but rather the hype and ramping that surrounds this share at the moment. I sincerely hope it makes all holders a zillion pounds, but for a penny share it needs to have that killer product, have the funds to market it, whilst at the same time fighting off any predators. Can you be sure that the Directors wouldn't seetle for a quick million and sell to Coca Cola or whoever else. In the mean time the PI (as always) gets shafted.

Blanche, why would I be bitter and twisted? I'm happy to see others (even Tabasco) make money. I think you might just be a little bitter as your greed got the better of you. From your own account you bought 10ks worth at 1p, sold a few to cover the investment and then watched as it made an intra-day high of 23p, which must have represented a paper profit in excess of 150k. Absolutely barking not to sell, no wonder you're pissed off. As the old adage goes, a long term investment is a short term investment gone wrong. In any event good luck.