Sirio Pharma will further expand its offering in the consumer health market, building on last month’s ‘pharma targeted’ softgel launch, with the introduction of a range of herbal gummies for trending consumer health categories.
The three new formulations are designed to help its partners, particularly pharma and OTC brands who want to grow in the active health space, accelerate into the fast-growing nutraceutical gummy industry. The products launched will support customers in trending consumer health categories, such as ‘cough and cold’, ‘oral care’ and ‘Urinary Tract Infections’ (UTI). All three gummies are vegan (pectin based), contain low-to-no sugar, and are ready to go to market immediately for product launch.
“We have come to CPHI to help our OTC customers – or any consumer health brand for that matter – launch complementary health gummies rapidly across Europe. Our ready-to-market gummies will enable them to address trending over-the-counter health areas in the most consumer-friendly dosage form. We all know gummies are the top growth dosage for nutraceuticals” commented Sara Lesina, General Manager Europe at Sirio.
Sirio’s ‘cough and cold’ formulation is designed to bring a new offering to products in the conventional consumer throat lozenges category, but with improved texture and taste characteristics. The unique centre-filled gummy combines citrus extract with eucalyptus, herbal ingredients that are well embedded into the consumer mind and are used to help relieve congestion, sinus pressure, and open airways. Additionally, it includes a liquid centre with soothing acacia honey that- once the gummy is bitten-provides a unique sensorial experience.
A second gummy, this time focusing on oral care, will be introduced, both vegan and sugar-free, with natural berry flavour and combining a protective mix of Vitamin D3, calcium, cranberry and elderberry extracts. These herbal ingredients not only contribute to strong teeth and gums, but they also have potential efficiency in preventing bacteria from adhering to the teeth (oral biofilm). Oral prevention is a new area for gummies and Sirio believes they will become a key consumer innovation beyond the traditional toothpaste, mouthwash and chewing gum formats.
A third sugar-free and vegan UTI gummy will be launched with a powerful herbal blend of hibiscus and cranberry. Cranberry has been shown in studies to be beneficial in helping regulate bacterial fauna and reduce the severity of outbreaks, while hibiscus may help prevent bacteria adhering to the linings of the urinary tract and bladder wall.
“Consumer health gummies, thanks to far better experiential and organoleptic properties, enable brands to recruit new consumers and grow traditional categories - such as cough & cold- formulations that are ripe for format-disruption. But consistency of quality in delivery is a must if brands are to consider a line extension under their well-known format umbrella. This means working with a CDMO that has decades of experience, quality certificates, raw materials traceability standards and crucially solid bioavailability studies. In fact, the skill and experience of the CDMO is now often the difference between ‘just launching’ and having a market-leading product. It’s also why -at Sirio- we invest heavily in R&D and have done our due diligence before introducing innovations like centre-filled gummies,” added Lesina.
The new Sirio vegan, sugar-free health gummies and vegetarian softgels targeting pharma will be showcased at CPHI Barcelona 2023 (stand 1A30).