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Phytopharm Hoodia Obesity is a major problem in the U.S. Records show that 65% of Americans which accounts for 127 million people are overweight. The problem is just not limited to the U.S. anymore. In the UK, 43% of men and 34% of women are overweight. Phytopharm is a pharmaceutical company with a plant division. The plant would be called Hoodia. One of the most powerful diet supplements on the market today. The company promotes there products only after they have done extensive research and clinical trials. Then they develop their sales and marketing plans. Phytopharm has 2 divisions within their company. The pharmaceutical division handles the development of prescription medication. The plant division deals with the development of plants for use in food and veterinary products. Phytopharm is the only company that owns the patent to the key ingredient in Hoodia which is called P57. Only Phytopharm's Hoodia Gordonii product has had extensive safety studies performed and been clinically proven to reduce calorie intake and body fat. The benefit sharing to the scientists and the San Bushmen is only generated by Phytopharm's patented Hoodia Gordonii product. Hoodia has been used by the San Bushmen for literally hundreds of years. They went on hunting expeditions and had a limited supply of food and water. So they ate the plant and found that they didn’t have to eat or even drink water for days. They had no cravings or desire for food. In 2001, Phytopharm did a controlled clinical study with Hoodia. They took 2 groups of volunteers. One group was given Hoodia and the other group wasn’t. They were told to go about their daily lives, eating what they would normally eat and following the same exercise routine, if any. Phytopharm discovered that the subjects who were given the Hoodia decreased their calorie intake by 1,000 calories a day. In 2004, they announced that they had granted a license for Hoodia to Unilever Company. Under the license agreement, Unilever and Phytopharm agreed to research, test and Markey new weigh loss products. They completed the first stage this year in 2006. They are now moving on to Stage two. Unilever is to pay Phytopharm a total of $21 million to Phytopharm for being a part of the license. Phytopharm also gets a certain percentage of royalties from the sales of Hoodia products. In May of 2006, Phytopharm made an announcement that they were aware that other companies were selling Hoodia and believed this was a violation of patent laws. They stated they contacted the necessary people that needed to be notified. Normally, a plant or any other natural product cannot be patented. But the main ingredient P57 can be patented and that is what Phytopharm has the rights to. All Text Copyright © Safety2005.org |
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