Israeli start-up Enzymotec Corp. has signed an agreement with Ildong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (KSX:000230) of South Korea to jointly develop Enzymotec’s CardiaBeat product for the Korean market. Enzymotec will supply the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), and Ildong will produce and market the capsules. Enzymotec is expected to earn several millions dollars a year from the contract, which roughly equals it total sales in Korea.
Enzymotec produces APIs for food supplements (added into foods) or nutritional supplements (sold separately). The company does not publish its sales figures, but it is considered one of the better graduates of Israel’s incubator program.
CardiaBeat supplements include phytosterols and omega-3 acids. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permits Enzymotec to state on CadiaBeat packaging that it helps reduce heart disease.
Enzymotec marketing manager Michal Haim-Braverman told “Globes” that Korea was a strategic market for the company, and that Ildong was a leading Korean pharmaceutical and food supplement company, with 1.5% of the local market. She said that the company expected to sign more agreements on a similar scale in Korea.
Enzymotec was founded in 1998 at Naiot Venture Accelerator, and is run by Dr. Ariel Katz.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 25, 2006
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