Reporters Notebook
Supplier News
The Quigley Corp. and Phosphagenics Limited in March formed a joint venture to be called Phusion Labs, which will focus on developing nonprescription remedies. The new products will be powered by Phosphagenics’ proprietary, patented TPM technology, a delivery technology that increases the amount and depth of penetration of active molecules into the skin, the companies stated.
“Phosphagenics’…technology lends itself perfectly to delivery of [over-the-counter] drugs as the inclusion of TPM will increase the absorption and efficacy of many OTC active ingredients,” stated Quigley CEO Ted Karkus.
Quigley will oversee distribution, sales and marketing of the new products.
The Gatorade Co., a division of PepsiCo, has partnered with GNC to bring to market its next generation of sports drinks and powders, G Series Pro, which offer athletes a “before, during and after” system of sports performance products. The products ship May 1. The products initially will be distributed through an exclusive co-marketing and co-distribution collaboration with GNC.
“The Gatorade brand has enormous credibility with GNC’s sports nutrition customers, and the G Series Pro line will be a valuable addition to GNC’s sport performance product lineup,” stated Joe Fortunato, GNC CEO. “We have the right retail presence and marketing muscle to drive G Series Pro through our nearly 5,500 U.S. stores.”
Industry News
Information Resources Inc. in March announced its name change to SymphonyIRI Group, a brand that better reflects all of the analytics available through the company.
“While we now have all of the capabilities to play a much broader role, the IRI brand name in some ways was confining,” explained SymphonyIRI Group president and CEO John Freeland. “SymphonyIRI Group is more than a new name; we are revitalizing our core business, strengthening our emerging businesses and evolving our fundamental value proposition to more accurately reflect our broader, higher value orientation and focus.”
Along with the name change, SymphonyIRI Group is launching a family of solutions for predictive, automated analytics, technology platforms and strategic consulting services. An important foundation of these new capabilities is the Advantage Solutions suite, built on the IRI Liquid Data platform, the company stated.
More people felt that the 2009-2010 cough-cold season was “about the same” or only “slightly worse” in severity than the year prior, a recent national survey of 1,017 Americans sponsored by Matrixx Initiatives found. A little less than half (42%) characterized this past year’s season as historically about the same with regard to illness levels, and 21% suggested it was slightly worse, in large part because of the H1N1 pandemic hype.
The perception of heightened illness rates may have been lacking this season, but almost everyone prepared for the worst, the survey found. The “Zicam Cold & Flu Report” revealed that 95% of people reported they took proactive steps to stay healthy and combat cold and flu. The top things people did to stay healthy this year included frequent hand-washing (85%); avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth (46%); liberal use of antibacterial gel (34%); avoiding shaking hands during cold-and-flu season (31%); and frequently sterilizing commonly used items in the home and office (26%).