Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants

American ginseng, a natural health product (NHP) that possess potent immuno- stimulatory properties. Since the most recent outbreak, individuals particularly the elderly and those with underlying health conditions have been taking immune stimulating NHPs to promote better immune health. In Canada, the quality of NHP’s is not regulated to a high standard. NHP’s are known to be a safe adaptogen with a wide range of pharmacological activity including antiviral, antibacterial, and immunomodulatory properties. The main attributors to this is the presence of multiple bioactive components, including ginsenosides and polysaccharides (PS). As many current NHP products in Canada contain the two major constituents ginsenosides and PS, it has been shown that the presence of ginsenosides which possess anti-inflammatory and induce immunosuppression, in the total extract is known to antagonize the immune-stimulatory activity of the PS component. Western Phytoceutica Corp. (WPC), a nutraceutical company based in Sarnia, Ontario focuses on providing premium quality, evidence based American ginseng NHPs. WPC has been successful in preparing a second-generation ginseng polysaccharide extract (G-PS). G-PS has shown to have potent immune-stimulatory properties with low order of toxicity and has limited capacity to induce adverse drug interactions. WPC is looking to partner with Lambton College to develop a process to produce a high quality immune-boosting G-PS extract using WPC’s regular and thermal-processed American red ginseng. In collaboration with Lambton College, WPC will accomplish this through extraction, isolation, and purification of the G-PS compounds. The success of this project will allow WPC to generate a commercial standardized G-PS immune boosting product and produce the necessary quality and volume of standardized G-PS extract for immediate licensing with a compendial standard claim (within 4 to 6 months) and for conducting clinical testing as a therapeutic treatment (within 9 months to 1 year). WPC will need up to 10 new staff to operate the ginseng extraction facility and project estimated sales figures of 10 million dollars within 3 years of project completion. With the vast majority of the $400 million in sales of ginseng being processed in China, WPC is confident that adding processing capacity and facilities will add millions to the Ontario economy, reshaping the ginseng processing space.