SupplySide

Probiotics: From Physician to Consumer - Market Trends and Stakeholder Perspectives

Probiotics are among the hottest products in the marketplace right now. Product categories such as dietary supplements, dairy and other non-dairy food and beverages will continue to experience growth. An emerging challenge for marketers is communicating product benefits effectively to consumers, health care providers and regulatory authorities.

• How probiotics have become a well-positioned digestive health category
• Smart and aggressive marketing promotions, the key market driver, which are continuously growing consumer awareness of probiotics’ benefits
• Communicating to regulatory authorities who have increased the scrutiny of structure/function claims, demanding they meet standards for substantiation
• Effectively reaching health care professionals who are looking to professional medical organizations to provide evidence-based practice guidelines on how to recommend probiotic products to their patients.
• Conducting clinical trials on foods and supplements while maintaining high scientific standards and conforming with regulatory bodies
• Clinical trial guidelines, IRB issues, funders and FDA regulations

Speakers: Christopher Shanahan, Consultant, Global Chemicals, Materials and Food, Frost & Sullivan; Dan Merenstein, M.D., Associate Professor, Director of Research Programs, Department of Family Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center; Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D., Dairy & Food Culture Technologies

Speaker Biographies

Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D.

Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D. is a consultant in the area of probiotic microbiology. She has published on efficacy substantiation, microbiology and regulatory issues pertaining to probiotics, coordinated or collaborated on clinical studies to validate probiotic efficacy, served on GRAS determination panels, participated in a working group convened by the FAO/WHO to establish guidelines for use of probiotics and served on the World Gastroenterology Organisation Guidelines Committee preparing guidelines for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for gastroenterologists. She is executive director of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP; www.isapp.net). She also hosts a website along with the California Dairy Research Foundation to provide objective, evidence-based information on probiotics (www.usprobiotics.org).

Christopher Shanahan

Christopher Shanahan is a senior industry analyst and consultant with Frost & Sullivan’s North America Chemicals, Materials & Foods Practice. Since joining Frost & Sullivan, he has assisted and advised companies with impartial insight into the food ingredient and specialty chemical industries. Prior to joining Frost & Sullivan, Shanahan was a Fellow and Researcher at the Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. He brings a firm understanding of econometric-based market analysis; behavioral economics; and agbusiness statistical benefit-cost analysis. He has extensive experience in market forecasting, market scenario engineering, product innovation diffusion and technology adoption analysis, and developing business decision models. Shanahan has received acclaim for his research and insights in market trends in the Review of Agricultural Economics Journal and Agribusiness and the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association Review. He has been cited by the Associated Press, USA Today, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Fox Business News and Food Navigator. He also has spoken at various trade shows including Supply Side West, Focus on the Future, and the International Poultry and Feed Expo.

Dan Merenstein, M.D.

Dan Merenstein, M.D., is an associate professor with tenure at Georgetown University. Dr. Merenstein sees patients one day a week and teaches medical students in years one through three. In addition, he teaches two undergraduate classes. Prior to coming to Georgetown in 2005, he spent three years in private practice followed by two years at Johns Hopkins as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. His primary research goal is to provide answers to common clinical questions that lack evidence and improve patient care. As a natural extension of his clinical training in family practice, his research portfolio is varied. Dr. Merenstein is primarily a clinical trialist focusing on functional foods and respiratory infections. Dr. Merenstein is currently the primary investigator on an NIH planning grant for a seven nation RCT looking to examine the role of antibiotics, steroids and netipots in treating acute sinusitis. Dr. Merenstein is currently conducting two probiotic clinical trials, his sixth probiotic trial in the last four years. In these studies he has enrolled and retained over 1,200 participants. Dr. Merenstein has extensive experience with following adverse events, supervising research personnel, overseeing large budgets, complying with regulatory issues and many other aspects of conducting a high quality study.