On Friday, an article came out from Dow Jones Newswires that discussed Nutra Pharma and our launch of Cobroxin. While the article was factually correct and well written, the author left out critical pieces of information that failed to tell the entire story about Nutra Pharma.

While at first glance, our balance sheet looks soft. We have several million dollars in liabilities and our latest quarterly from the SEC reported little cash in-hand. But at closer inspection, one would realize that over the years, I have funded the company over $3 million out of my own pocket to continue our drug development work on Multiple Sclerosis (MS), pain, HIV/AIDS, and Adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN). Because of my strong belief in our pipeline, I chose to provide this financing as a loan to the company, instead of diluting shareholders. This financing now makes up the majority of the $3.1 million liability.

Today, the company is as strong as ever. Not only are we in the process of launching our first product in the United States, but we are also much stronger financially with over $2.5 million in cash that we plan to use to finance the manufacturing of Cobroxin and additional clinical studies for our other drug indications.

As we move forward with the launch of Cobroxin this week, it is important that our customers and shareholders understand the history of the product and its clinical profile. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in our branded pain reliever, Cobroxin, is Asian cobra venom. We have been studying cobra venom for the past 10 years at our drug discovery subsidiary, ReceptoPharm under the supervision of Dr. Paul Reid.  Dr. Reid acts as the CEO of ReceptoPharm and is one of the world’s foremost experts on cobra venom. He first started studying it when he was at the United States Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Maryland, under a grant from the National Research Council in Washington, D.C.

Cobra venom dates further back than Dr. Reid’s original work in the early 1990s. It has been used in the U.S. for over 75 years and has a well understood clinical application. There are 46 human clinical trials dating back to the 1930s and 20 pre-clinical studies using cobra venom to treat pain, including some of the most recent work being completed by Dr. Paul Reid from ReceptoPharm and Dr. Zheng-Hong Qin, who divides his time between Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Soochow University in Suzhou, China.

Unfortunately, a point of confusion in the recent article was that it stated that Nutra Pharma is in the process of completing human clinical trials in an effort to gather as much information as possible about Cobroxin. In fact, we are planning to conduct an additional trial for Nyloxin Rx, our prescription pain reliever, to compare its efficacy to other prescription pain medicines. We believe that the results of this comparison study could provide us with excellent evidence showing that Nyloxin Rx should be the preferred method of treatment for severe (Stage 3) chronic pain. Additional details will be released as we move into the launch of Nyloxin Rx.

While we would like to claim Cobroxin as a new product, it is not. Cobra venom has been used as a therapeutic agent in China for thousands of years for a variety of different purposes. Additionally, here in the United States, cobra venom is a U.S. monographed drug under the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia (HPUS) and was used as a pain killer by the United States government during World War II.

As cortisone became popular and other pain killers became accessible in the United States, people stopped using cobra venom primarily because it lacked standardization. 50 years ago, the technology to measure the amount or type of peptides and whether there was bacterial or fungal contamination did not exist. Additionally, there were no tools available to properly clean, sterilize and standardize the solution, so patients would end up with ineffective and bad batches. Today, however, with our understanding of cobra venom peptides and the technology that we have available, we can tell you exactly what is in every batch and verify that it is sterile, clean and that it is going to be effective. Our understanding of this product and the technology we have available to us is why I believe cobra venom will once again become a staple for treating pain.

A critical part of the launch of Cobroxin is our licensing partnership with XenaCare Holdings. What drew us to XenaCare was not only the company’s commitment to a several million dollar roll-out, but also its relationship with a broker network that is considered among the leaders in the industry with a history for launching successful products, several of which now have over a billion dollars in sales. While we are confident that XenaCare is fully-capable of completing a successful launch of Cobroxin by utilizing its available financial and human capital, our agreement, as would any out-licensing agreement, requires XenaCare to meet certain minimum performance requirements.

If you would like to learn more about the science behind Cobroxin, I invite you to click here to listen to a webinar I hosted last month discussing the product. I believe this will help clarify the science behind the Cobroxin and why cobra venom is effective for treating Stage 2 chronic pain.

In summary, I would like to reiterate how excited we are about Nutra Pharma and the blockbuster potential of our drug discovery platform.

SEC Disclaimer
This article contains forward-looking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Nutra Pharma's ("the Company") business plan. The Company's business is subject to various risks, which are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The above article, " Nutra Pharma Bites Back – A Response to the Dow Jones Newswires", should not be construed as an indication in any way whatsoever of: (a) the Company’s financial value; and/or (b) any predictive value of the Company’s future stock price. The Company's filings may be accessed at the SEC's Edgar system at www.sec.gov. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place reliance on such statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we do not undertake, and we specifically disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement.

               

6 Comments

Thank you for your excellent information I am a small investor in NPHC and plan to be a user of Cobroxin. Good luck on the launch of Cobroxin! Pam

Comment by pam gray — October 12, 2009 @ 10:50 am

I believe this to be a revolutionary drug to hit the market at the right time, especially when health care concerns are front and center in the nations mind. As a chronic pain sufferer myself I am confident and excited about this drug and I believe sales will generate better than expected revenue for the both Nutra Pharma but also for Xenecare Holdings.

Comment by Eric — October 12, 2009 @ 11:18 am

Great rebuttal, Rick!
We’re SO GLAD you have the cashews to stand up to the big nattering nabobs of negativism (an old term from way before your time!) We are so excited to be involve with a very small part of your efforts, and look forward to many more bio-breakthroughs from Nutra Pharma – God bless you,

Burt

Comment by Burt Smith — October 12, 2009 @ 12:19 pm

I would like to know if there are any plans to launch this product in South Africa. I am South African and a chronic pain sufferer but also a psychologist and would be grateful for any information regarding the possiblilty of these products being made available in my country.

Comment by Joyce — November 30, 2009 @ 1:08 pm

As one who has personally used your product with significant relief to my chronic elbow and knee pain, I believe that Cobroxin (and, later, Nyloxin) should make millions in sales. For it does indeed work. But the difference between mediocre and phenomenal success will be imaginative and aggressive marketing.

Cobroxin and Nyloxin need to get into the attention of the mass public. It needs to be the bomb on the playing field of the pain relief world.

A spot on the Oprah show did wonders for Airborne (which is basically a health supplement). It is now in every pharmacy and market and makes millions annually. By the way, Airborne was recently “purchased by GF Capital Private Equity Fund, LP, a New York City-based private equity firm.” So much for the naysayers of holistic medicine. My hope is that Airborne’s story will be Nutra Pharma’s story, and even surpass it.

So I have three suggestions for Nutra Pharma with regard to marketing.

1. Improve the Cobroxin / Nyloxin web site. It’s OK now, but could be much better. Take a look at Airborne’s web site and see about making the Cobroxin/Nyloxin web site much more interactive, with a “Share you story” link, so that people who have tried the product can give their brief testimony. A share your story link is a great way of giving evidence for the products’ success, and is often better than the just the company saying so, or worrying about possible legal issues, since people can say what they want. The link of course must be proctored to eliminate possible sabotage by stock bashers and shorts.
See http://www.airbornehealth.com/

2. Create great TV and radio commercials. They don’t have to be long or expensive. But they must be memorable. The 1980s Wendy’s hamburger commercial “Where’s the beef?” became what sociologists call a cultural event, that was repeated by school children, comedians, and became a common definition for: “there’s no substance or anything worthwhile here.”

3. Do a youtube commercial that would be infinitely cheaper to produce and to air, as the airing is free. But figure out how to make it a cultural event that will get millions of hits worldwide.

Sincerely
Rivera

Comment by Rivera — December 3, 2009 @ 10:26 am

Maybe the BEST paper I have read all year?!

Emma

Tas Ransel

Comment by Paula — February 1, 2011 @ 11:31 am

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