INDENA WINS BEST NEW PRODUCT AWARD
Meriva^®, a more bioavailable curcumin, receives special recognition at the European Outsourcing Awards during CPhI

Milan, October 12th, 2010 - Meriva^® has been elected "Best New Product" of the year by the judging panel of the European Outsourcing Awards.
This award goes to the company that has developed a market-leading product that, through excellence in research, development and/or manufacturing, has resulted in the launch of an exciting and innovative new offering in the bio/pharmaceutical sector that combines innovative science or product features in a way that demonstrates substantial benefits to patient populations when compared with existing therapeutics available for that disease condition.

Meriva^® is an Indena proprietary complex of curcumin (Curcuma longa L.) that is capitalizing the basic tenets of the Phytosome^® strategy to improve the bioavailability. Recent studies have demonstrated a dramatically enhanced bioavailability of Meriva^® of over 20-fold compared to a standardized curcumin extract and, in a recent published long term clinical investigation, its safety and efficacy in the treatment of inflammatory diseases has been confirmed.

According to the judges from the European Outsourcing Awards 2010: "the most impressive attribute of this nomination was the twenty-fold increase in bioavailability. Using humble turmeric in a clinical trial to develop a new product is incredibly innovative, leading to the development of a safe and effective product that can be delivered at clinically realistic dosages - at a weight-to-weight price that's comparable with standard 95% extracts".

Launched in 2005, in Madrid, the European Outsourcing Awards recognizes significant developments in contract services and rewards successful companies for their outstanding contributions and achievements throughout the year. The awards were created to celebrate and recognize excellence in R&D, marketing, business and technology across the bio/pharmaceutical industry. 

"We're very pleased to receive this award" said Christian Artaria, Indena Marketing Director and Head of Functional Food Development, at the prize gala  ceremony  "Indena's model of identifying research and industrial collaborations ranging from R&D Institutions to hospitals and private clinics early in the product development cycle has again proven effective in shortening the time to market with this exciting product".

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About curcumin
Curcumin is the yellow pigment of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), the most important spice of the Indian cuisine, and a major ingredient of curry powders. In Asian Medicine, turmeric is used for the treatment of inflammation and joint pain. In Western countries, it is mainly employed as a food additive to color dairy products (cheese and yogurts), margarine and canned food.

About Meriva^®
Meriva^® is a patented complex of curcumin, a dietary phenolic, with soy phosphatidyl choline. The two compounds form a non-covalent adduct in a 1:2 weight ratio, and two parts of microcrystalline cellulose are then added to improve formulation, with an overall content of curcumin of 20%.
Meriva^® is already included as an ingredient in food supplements marketed in USA and EU and available over the counter. To know more: www.phytosomes.info  

About Indena
Indena is the world's leading company dedicated to the identification, development and production of active principles derived from plants, for use in the pharmaceutical, health food and cosmetics industries. Backed up by over 85 years of botanical experience, the key to Indena's success �� is its intense research activity. The company has more than 150 primary patents and has published more than 700 scientific studies. Indena employs more than 700 staff, including 10% dedicated to full-time research activities carried out at Settala Research Center, near Milan. Indena also co-operates with the world's most prestigious universities and private research institutions. Headquartered in Milan, Indena has five production sites and four international branches throughout the world and manages distribution operations in more than 40 countries. The Company's experts communicate and interact constantly with the major international regulatory authorities such as WHO, EMEA, and ESCOP, and work with all the main pharmacopoeias. For further info about Indena, visit www.indena.com 

Indena Media Contacts 
Cohn & Wolfe Milan
Laura Faravelli laura.faravelli@cohnwolfe.com  
Lorenzo Petracco lorenzo.petracco@cohnwolfe.com 
Tel.+39 02 202391