Globeandmail.com: News Source
Edmonton stockpiles ginseng extract for essential staff
DAWN WALTON
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
April 25, 2007 at 9:01 AM EDT
CALGARY — Edmonton is turning to a homegrown immunity booster, pitched by a local hockey hero, in a bid to prevent vital city services from being shut down in the event of an influenza pandemic.
The city will become the first municipality in North America to stockpile COLD-fX to treat 5,000 key employees such as police, fire fighters, paramedics and waste-disposal workers. The anti-flu, anti-cold ginseng extract was developed by Edmonton-based CV Technologies Inc. and is endorsed by former Edmonton Oiler Mark Messier.
"It may make the difference between us having essential service workers on the road or not," Bob Black, director of Edmonton's office of emergency preparedness, said yesterday. "It seems to be the prudent thing to do."
The city and the company said this week that they have struck a $250,000 deal, a cost that will be split evenly as part of CV's social responsibility program, to ensure Edmonton has an eight-week supply - 600,000 pills - at the first hint of an outbreak. (The pills will be supplied on demand, which will eliminate worries about a best-before date.)
The company approached the city last year and now the agreement, which was finalized in the past few months, gives CV something to crow about after a string of bad luck.
Last week, the Alberta Securities Commission issued a cease-trade order against the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed company while it restates its financial statements to reflect an overstatement of U.S. revenue. The commission has given CV until May 2 to amend its balance sheet to reflect returns of unsold products in the United States.
Jacqueline Shan, CV's president and chief executive officer, said yesterday the company plans to speak with other municipalities about using COLD-fX in their pandemic planning to provide additional protection.
COLD-fX, which has become Canada's No. 1-selling cold and flu remedy, has a solid pedigree for cold and flu control.
In 2004, an independent study by the University of Alberta and Edmonton's Capital Health Region found that COLD-fX reduces the chances of getting sick, and for those infected it eases symptoms.
The 15-year-old company has invested millions in research. Its supplement contains oligosaccharides and polysaccharides - chemical molecules found to stimulate the immune system - from North American ginseng, and has been standardized through a process that identifies the chemical makeup of the product.
