Research Demonstrates that HerbalScience's Proprietary Elderberry Extract Prevents...

Research Demonstrates that HerbalScience's Proprietary Elderberry Extract
Prevents in Vitro H1N1 Influenza Infection
- Laboratory Results Documenting the Elderberry Extract's Antiviral
Mode-of-Action Published in Recent Issue of Scientific Journal Phytochemistry
-

NAPLES, Fla., Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent research study has given new
scientific evidence to the long-held empirical belief that elderberries
possess antiviral activities. The research involved a specific, reproducible
elderberry extract developed by HerbalScience Group LLC, and succeeded in
identifying key chemical components of the extract that inhibited in vitro
infection and were shown to bind directly to Human Influenza A (H1N1) virus
particles. The binding blocked the ability of the viruses to enter host cells,
and thereby effectively preventing H1N1 infection in vitro.

An article detailing the study, titled "Elderberry flavonoids bind to and
prevent H1N1 infection in vitro," has been published in the peer-review
scientific journal Phytochemistry. The article's authors are scientists
affiliated with HerbalScience Group, a Naples, Florida, and Singapore-based
company dedicated to applying advanced science and technology to the
production of botanical drugs and nutraceuticals, and with the University of
Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.

The research results are notable not only because they identified and
characterized two specific flavonoids (plant nutrients that are beneficial to
health) that are the major contributors to the anti-influenza activity of the
elderberry extract, but also verified how the flavonoids provide that benefit,
via direct binding to H1N1 virus particles and blocking the virus from
infecting host cells.

"Our studies on HerbalScience's proprietary elderberry extract have enabled us
to identify the key bioactives that contribute to its antiviral activity, and
begin to understand how the mixture of natural chemistries present in
elderberry functions," said Randall S. Alberte, Ph.D., Chief Scientific
Officer of HerbalScience Group and one of the authors of the published study.
"Using methods, technologies, and procedures that are standard in the
pharmaceutical industry and new technologies developed by us, we were able to
demonstrate the effectiveness of the elderberry extract in inhibiting viral
entry into target cells and effectively blocking its ability to reproduce."

Central to the research was the use of a DART (Direct Analysis in Real Time)
Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer, one of the most advanced mass spectrometric
technologies available, and which is able to detect, identify with high
accuracy, and quantify the hundreds or thousands of individual chemicals
present in botanical extracts. When this technology is combined with the use
of HerbalScience's Platform Technology, this information can be used with
other data to rapidly identify the key bioactives present.

The elderberry extract used in the study is the result of technology developed
by HerbalScience that enables the company to standardize the chemical profile
of any selected botanical in order to deliver a compositionally and
functionally consistent product that is effective and safe. The patented
technology was developed for the company by top researchers in the areas of
botanical and natural products chemistry and plant biology, as well as leading
experts in supercritical CO2 and affinity absorbent extraction technologies,
methods used for extracting plant phytochemicals.

The company's proprietary and environmentally-friendly technology is able to
extract a broad diversity of phytochemicals from botanicals and produce a
consistent and reliable chemical "fingerprint" for each and every dose.
HerbalScience scientists also developed a process that enables the beneficial
chemical compounds in botanicals to be enhanced while removing any harmful
compounds like heavy metals and pesticides. With the application of this
technology to elderberry, the company achieves a consistent chemical profile
in its extract with batch-to-batch and dose-to-dose reliability, and maintains
the natural synergy of the chemical make-up while optimizing the efficacy of
its health benefits.

The article detailing this study is in the July 2009 issue of the
peer-reviewed scientific journal Phytochemistry (Volume 70, Issue 10). Its
authors are Bill Roschek, Jr., Ryan C. Fink, Matthew D. McMichael, Dan Li, and
Randall S. Alberte. Dr. Fink is with the Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine,
Miami, Florida, and the other authors are affiliated with HerbalScience Group
LLC. Dr. Li is the Chief Scientific Officer of HerbalScience Singapore.

HerbalScience Group is a privately-held life sciences company headquartered in
Naples, Florida, with facilities in Singapore. HerbalScience is engaged in the
discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary botanical
compounds for human health in the U.S. and international markets. The company
has prominent alliances with prestigious university laboratories and prominent
researchers in the U.S., as well as research institutions in China.

SOURCE HerbalScience Group LLC

Cathy Callegari, +1-212-579-1370 or cathy@callprinc.com