On April 10-11, professionals representing the East Coast and beyond in the nutrition, food, and health trades gathered in Secaucus, N.J., to discuss products and ingredients at SupplySide East. What are they selling? Not pharmaceuticals, but nutraceuticals. A nutraceutical is a standardized nutrient derived from food. Think dietary supplements. You can get them over the counter without a prescription and they tend to have natural ingredients, which makes some consumers feel more comfortable.
With 250 industry providers, more than 3,000 industry participants, and more than 5,000 ingredients and solutions represented, this event is a big deal. CGMP is a major focus of the event: Current Good Manufacturing Practices, regulations developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that ensure the authenticity and quality of nutraceuticals on the market. Representatives of Gateway Biotechnology, Inc., maker of HearGuard, attended SupplySide East this year to meet with suppliers and to learn about possible new compounds for future research. HearGuard is a nutraceutical designed to protect against hearing loss caused by noise exposure and aging.
One thing we noticed at the conference is that there were no nutraceuticals for hearing health represented, which tells us that there is an overwhelming need for such a product, said Jianxin Bao, Ph.D., an auditory researcher and president of Gateway Biotechnology. For this reason, we feel strongly that HearGuard will soon lead the industry in hearing loss protection.
A sister event, SupplySide West, takes place later in the year.
