AB-Biotics obtains patent for AB-Fortis in China
This is the fourth country to grant the Catalan biotechnology firm a patent for this functional ingredient that helps prevent iron deficiency.
By Biocat
The Patent Office of China has granted AB-Biotics the patent for the product AB-Fortis, a functional ingredient that helps prevent iron deficiency and can be included in food and dietary supplements. This patent protects iron-fortified foods —like yogurt, milk, beverages and meat emulsions— and the process through which it is obtained, based on the microencapsulation of iron in an alginate matrix. It also protects the use of fortified food with iron microcapsules to prevent or reduce iron deficiency in humans.
Despite the growth of the Chinese economy, a large part of the population still has nutritional deficiencies. According to a study by Sichuan University, 42% of pregnant women suffer from this condition, as do approximately 34% of school-age children. In northern China, iron deficiency is estimated to affect 41% of the population.
China is the fourth country to grant the company a patent for AB-Fortis, after Nigeria, Mexico and, just a few months ago, Russia. The Catalan company has also submitted applications in other countries, which are currently under consideration, like Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Japan and the United States, among others.
Worldwide marketing of AB-Fortis has been licensed to multinational corporation Frutarom, for food applications, and Suanfarma, for other products like dietary supplements and dietary foods for special medical use. AB-Biotics is considering going public on the foreign stock market in 2014, as recently published in the financial newspaper Expansión.
If you are interested in learning more about this success story, we recommend the report AB-Biotics, from the UAB to the stock exchange published on the Biocat website and in the E-News in January 2013.