NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - November 18, 2014) - Plandaí Biotechnology (OTCQB: PLPL) entered into an agreement late last year with North West University in South Africa, that will allow it to use the Pheroid® technology to further increase bioavailability in its products. This enhanced bioavailability allows Plandaí to offer a potential solution for many possible viral and infectious diseases.
Infectious diseases rely on glycoproteins that bind the virus to healthy cells or T-cells, which are a type of white blood cells that play a major role in protecting the body from infection. When the virus attaches, it enters into the healthy cell, taking its genetic material, replicating it, exhausting all the cells resources, killing the cell, and then exiting and repeating the process until the infected individual cell dies.
Several independent investigations have determined that the catechins found in green tea, namely epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, bond more strongly to healthy cells than viruses do, which blocks them and prevents the virus from entering the white blood cells. Researchers at the Baylor School of Medicine and at Texas Children's Hospital have shown the ability of catechins to prevent binding of the virus protein to the white blood cells, but, of note, to be effective it requires an excessive dosage and a dosage with higher bioavailability. Because generic green tea extracts cannot deliver enough of the catechins into the bloodstream and then get those catechins absorbed by the white blood cells, the true effectiveness of catechins in preventing or treating viruses is not known.
For a drug or compound to have a therapeutic effect, it has to reach the site where it will take action in sufficient quantities. Which brings us back to Plandaí. Plandaí's green tea-based Phytofare™ Catechin Complex has already shown in a clinical trial performed at North West University in South Africa that it offers ten times greater bioavailability than a commercially available green tea extract. The Company is now further testing its product when enhanced by the Pheroid® delivery system. The Pheroid® entrapment system has been shown to enhance the absorption of various pharmacological compounds and biological molecules.
And this is where Plandaí's green tea extract could potentially offer hope as an anti-viral protection solution. For starters, according to Professor Anne Grobler of North West University who conducted the company's clinical trial, Plandaí's product showed that by using the company's extraction process, which uses live plant material, all 8 of the green tea plant's catechins, including EGCG, were present in the bloodstream versus only 2 catechins detected in the bloodstream when the commercial extract was tested.
Additionally, the trial's results found that when using the company's technology, absorption of those catechins was 5 times greater, and the life span of the catechin's molecules in the bloodstream was doubled in Phytofare™ when compared to that of the commercial green tea extract.
Now, with the use of the Pheroid® technology, Plandaí could likely offer an even more potent solution. The Pheroid® technology is an encapsulation or entrapment technology that encases the target material inside of a long-chain fatty acid.
In the case of many infectious diseases, the target cells (white blood cells) perceive the fatty acid as food and allow the Pheroid® to pass through the cell membrane which greatly enhances bioavailability, or absorption. The fatty acid also protects the entrapped material from damage and metabolization as it passes through the gastro-intestinal tract.
What this means is that the Pheroid® technology should allow the company to get its Phytofare™ extract to the target cells intact and fully functional directly to the target cells and potentially provide a simple, affordable and natural anti-viral solution.
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SMMG is a Research and Content Development IR firm offering a platform for corporate stories to unfold in the media with research reports, CEO interviews and feature news articles. SMMG is compensated $3,500 per month by Plandai Biotechnology for content development. Previously, SMMG was compensated for similar content by a third party which occurred from April 2013 through June 2014. During that period, SMMG received approximately $55,000 for its content. Neither SMMG nor anyone associated with it owns shares in PLPL. For more information: www.stockmarketmediagroup.com.