Featured Innovator

Herbal remedies have been used around the world for centuries, but only recently and in our own backyard has modern medicine been able to capture the full potential of these natural ingredients.

The popularity of natural health products has been battling an array of modern-day safety concerns ranging from heavy metals and pesticides to dangerously varying levels of ingredient absorbability from pill to pill and bottle to bottle.

Local natural health product company SinoVeda is diminishing those concerns by using only organic materials and advanced pharmaceutical techniques to obtain the highest levels of safety and purity. Their Pharmaceutical Platform Technology® or PPT® is the production method that ensures every dose has the same amount of absorbable ingredients.  

“Natural products have received bad press over the years because of poor and ‘questionable’ quality,” says SinoVeda co-founder Dr. Nuzhat Tam-Zaman. “PPT® allows SinoVeda to determine the amount of active ingredients and the optimum ratios required in supplements to achieve the same profile each time.”

SinoVeda’s newest product promises to shake up the studies of bone health and osteoporosis. Pearlium® is a patent-pending formula containing vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and a form of highly soluble calcium acetate extracted from oyster pearls. The retention rate of calcium acetate is much higher than traditional calcium carbonates and citrates, so the daily dosage of calcium in Pearlium® is 300 mg compared to 1,000 mg in traditional supplements.

SinoVeda’s mission is to raise the bar of natural health products with their pharmaceutical approach to developing natural health products. 

“We know nature has a lot to offer,” says Dr. Tam-Zaman. “We discovered in our research that ingredients in herbs have multiple functions and at times, act synergistically together. We have a systematic approach to identifying and quantifying these ingredients. As well, our products undergo rigorous quality control tests before we manufacture them.”  

SinoVeda’s product line, which includes Echinacea, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng, St. John’s Wort and Cordyceps. All single herbs products will be released in Canada in April. Pearlium® is expected to enter the market this summer and will be followed by a clinical trial to test its effectiveness in treating postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.  

SinoVeda has been housed at the Edmonton Research Park’s Biotechnology Business Development Centre (BBDC) for three years. The BBDC is a multi-tenant facility that provides second-stage biotechnology firms with developed wet lab and office space at below-market lease rates and flexible lease terms.

“The ERP has been very beneficial in providing the amount of lab space we need. The cost is competitive and environment is very encouraging,” says Dr. Tam-Zaman.    

To learn more about Dr. Tam-Zaman, Pearlium® or SinoVeda, visit www.sinoveda.com