“Some days I just don’t know what to make of things. Other days I’m sure I have the solution to everything.” – Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Last month I put forth the proposition that I am the world’s best multivitamin formulator. I will say that I received some interesting correspondence on the subject, and what would be the finest multivitamin formulation could be coming soon to the market. As I put it, if the formulation makes it to market, sign me up to be the first lifetime customer. As the formulator sagely put it, the formula is “only worth 1 percent – the other 99 percent of value is the perspiration to get it to market!”

True ’nuff. And more on that below.

There’s developing stories we’re folliwing on three ingredients or classes. By next month we ought to have them fleshed out enough to present to you, oh sophisticated reader. For now, I will let on this much:

* Krill. Market ingredient pioneer Neptune Biotech, having lost the Schiff MegaRed franchise, has been embarking on a patent strategy to regain its lost assets. In April the European Patent Office denied its claims. But Neptune is soldiering on. I’m no lawyer, but what’s patentable about the commodity oil from a denizen from the deep? Regardless, my guess is that legal machinations can’t be helping the krill market reach its potential.

* Vitamin K2. The overlooked vitamin has a lot of upside, and should be integrated into multis from children’s to the postmenopausal set, but there’s a lot of action happening on the ingredient side. Charges of borrowed science, cheap knock-offs that make the price range from $200 to $1,200 a kilo, and shifting alliances make the menaquinone mystery worth a read. Stay tuned here.

* The cognitive market. There’s opportunity aplenty here – as we’ve reported, the cognitive market has the largest chasm between consumer demand and product offerings. Some finished products opt for the “kitchen sink” approach, throwing in every ingredient known to improve the functioning of the noggin. Others aim at proving healthy fats. And there’s the whole blood-brain barrier issue.

What’s the answer to formulating a solid product? And then, got any insider tips on the “perspiration to get it to market” angle? Well, we’ve got something for you there. Go to www.nextknows.com. You’re welcome.

TODD RUNESTAD

Editor-in-Chief