Functional Nutriments Awarded Federal Grant to Apply Its Dog Nutraceutical Research to Human Cancer

KIHEI, Hawaii, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Functional Nutriments, the makers of Apocaps®, the world's first dietary apoptogens for dogs, announced it was awarded a $244,479 federal grant to research the application of its apoptosis-inducing formula for human cancers.

The grant is part of the U.S. government's $1 Billion Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project, overseen by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The QTDP program offers funding to small companies creating medical therapies with the potential to reduce health care costs, create jobs, improve U.S. competitiveness, or significantly advance the goal of curing cancer within the next 30 years.

It was a competitive awards process with applications being reviewed by the National Institutes of Health. The program was oversubscribed with about $10 Billion in requests. The projects that won the federal grants and tax credits were seen as the most promising by the NIH review committee. The cash grant of $244,479 was the highest amount a single project could receive.

"We are pleased for the recognition and to receive this grant to further our research and development in the use of apoptogens to combat cancer," said James Jacobson, Functional Nutriment's Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that this grant is further validation that our research may one day extend beyond dogs and help people who are fighting cancer."

Chief Medical Officer and company co-founder Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM, said, "Apoptosis is a such a fundamental biological process and the ability to induce it in cancer cells using natural apoptogens suggests enormous potential for human cancer patients."  

About Functional Nutriments

Functional Nutriments is a privately held company based in Maui, Hawaii focused on first-in-class therapeutics for cancer. The core focus of its research is dietary apoptogens which induce the normal biological process of apoptosis. The first application of the company's research is the nutraceutical Apocaps® CX for dogs (http://apocaps.com), which was released in 2010. Through further research and testing, the company's objective is to apply its patent-pending formulations to drugs for human cancer patients.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Functional Nutriments' use of dietary apoptogens for treating cancer. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties associated with: the Company's financial resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the Company's business objectives and operational requirements; the protection and market exclusivity provided by Company's intellectual property; risks related to drug discovery and the regulatory approval process; and, the impact of competitive products and technological changes.

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SOURCE Functional Nutriments, LLC