COMPLEMENTARY medicine giant Swisse Wellness has announced a three-year multimillion-dollar research arrangement with peak research group CSIRO, seaking to create scientific evidence to support its own products.
The CSIRO will involve its own research collaborators, La Trobe and Swinburne Universities, and will focus on Swisse's product claims, new product opportunities and manufacturing methods.
Swisse ceo Radek Sali said, "The main focus will be on our product claims & further studies to support the already large body of evidence supporting the claims we make."
Although the actual dollar value of the deal was not disclosed, it was revealed that it would be greater than the La Trobe contract of 2014, which controversially precipitated health activist Ken Harvey's decision to resign from his La Trobe Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health post (PD 04 Mar 14).
CSIRO director of health and biosecurity Rob Grenfell told Fairfax, "We haven't entered the agreement with any naivety...we are not going to endorse agents that are not scientifically valid."
The terms of the arrangement mean that Swisse would determine the research projects undertaken.
Swisse is not alone in sponsoring university research, with Blackmores funding Sydney University to the tune of $1.3m in 2015.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 27 Oct 16
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 27 Oct 16
