Swedish pharma business Mimer Medical has passed the first hurdle in the \u201cprotracted and confusing world of supplement health claim substantiation\u201d after EFSA deemed its dossier as valid and admissible for formal scientific review.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very inspiring to get this far. We think this it\u2019s a significant milestone in the process we have been working so hard towards for the last two to three years,\u201d said Professor Jan Bruhn, an eminent professor of pharmacognosy and senior vice president of R&D at Mimer Medical. <\/p>\n
Despite having a huge wealth of experience in pharma research and regulation, the small team of senior experts, some of whom came out of retirement for this project, have found the world of supplement health claim substantiation a significant challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cEFSA received 61 health claim applications between 2010 and 2020 and it rejected 55 of those, so it\u2019s no easy task to get through this process,\u201d Bruhn told NI.<\/p>\n
The team filed an application in September last year (2025), for the claim, \u201cconsumption of Appethyl as part of a meal prolongs satiety and reduces cravings after that meal\u201d. <\/p>\n
These specific benefits are backed by five clinical trials<\/a>. For example, a 2015 study, covered by NutraIngredients<\/a> associated a single 5 gram dose of the spinach extract with a 43% greater weight loss and 85% reduction in cravings for unhealthy foods.<\/p>\n After reaching scientific review, Mimer Medical is open to acquisition offers for the Appethyl project, including patents, trademarks, and clinical and technical documentation.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning we were aiming at producing and marketing, but then we realized that in our team of retired people, we should pass the project to a company within the field.\u201d <\/p>\n Publicly available portions of the dossier can be accessed through the EFSA site<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project requires a team with expertise in both scientific substantiation and regulation,\u201d Bruhn told NI. \u201cIt\u2019s a baby of Swedish research so we are anxious to place it in safe hands.\u201d<\/p>\n A Swedish brainchild<\/p>\n Appethyl was originally the brainchild of Lund University professor Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson and her husband Per-\u00c5ke Albertsson, a professor of biochemistry, who began integrating their expertise in weight management and photosynthesis nearly two decades ago.<\/p>\n