Forbes Medi-Tech strengthens position in plant sterols

Adds forestry byproduct extraction technology from B.C. Chemicals

In a move that strengthens its position as a leader in phytosterol (plant steroid) technology, Forbes Medi-Tech (Vancouver, BC, Canada) has acquired technology for extracting phytosterols from pitch, a forestry byproduct, from B.C. Chemicals, a division of the Canfor Corp. (Vancouver). The agreement allows Forbes to purchase pitch for a contracted period of time, plus provides an option to build a manufacturing facility at the B.C. Chemicals site in Prince George, British Columbia, if Forbes so chooses. In return, Forbes will pay B.C. Chemicals about $3.5 million (Canadian).

Part of Forbes Medi-Tech's business strategy involves turning raw phytosterols into value-added pharmaceutical intermediates, primarily for such steroid mainstays as prednisone, estrogen, and others.

Phytosterols are important intermediates and ingredients in foods, as well as fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. Foods rich in plant sterols lower serum cholesterol, a fact that Forbes and others have exploited to create a line of ingredients and supplements that reduce heart disease risk without drugs. Aside from its interest in phytosterols as ingredients and end products, Forbes is also developing fermentation technologies that convert plant sterols into pharmaceutical fine chemicals, essential in the production of various pharmaceutical steroids such as contraceptive agents and anti-inflammatories.

Canfor is a leading Canadian forest products company whose B.C. Chemicals division manufactures sodium chlorate and crude tall oil, from which pitch is derived.

For more information, contact Martin Livingston of Forbes Medi-Tech at 604-681-8976 or irinfo@forbesmedi.com.

With contribution by Angelo DePalma
Managing Editor, Drug Discovery Online and Pharmaceutical Online
Email: adepalma@vertical.net