Helping people live healthier for longer is the aim of a Kiwi supplements company using scientific evidence to build its brand around a breakthrough antioxidant molecule.
At a glance
- After years of research, MitoQ has developed a product that improves skin, sports performance and even heart disease.
- Callaghan Innovation support has been key in enabling MitoQ to conduct the research proving the efficacy of its product.
- Using evidence-based marketing, MitoQ has seen huge growth within the Chinese and US markets specifically, and is also distributing within Europe.
Creating a positive charge
Improved skin. Improved sports performance. Even protection from heart disease. These are big statements for a health supplement. But for Auckland-based company MitoQ, this is exactly what their breakthrough, world-first antioxidant molecule does.
In essence, MitoQ is a derivative of Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an important antioxidant for looking after mitochondria, which are the ‘batteries’ of our cells. MitoQ says the difference with its product is that it has a positive charge, meaning it gets into the negatively charged mitochondria up to 1200 times more effectively than CoQ10.
Originally discovered by Otago University, MitoQ has continued to support a range of studies into the efficacy of its product, including research by the University of Colorado Boulder into MitoQ and cardiovascular health.
The trial found that the supplement could reverse the ageing of blood vessels by the equivalent of 15 to 20 years within six weeks, thus potentially playing a role in preventing heart disease.
Auckland University also researched the effects of MitoQ, conducting a pilot for a future, larger study examining the benefits for people suffering from type two diabetes, and separately also looking at how it could boost sports performance.
This research was aimed at answering an important question, chief executive Greg Macpherson says. “We know MitoQ gets into mitochondria 800 to 1200 times more effectively than CoQ10, but what is the actual effect of that?”
Accelerating R&D
Callaghan Innovation has helped accelerate MitoQ’s journey, enabling the team to conduct the scientific research necessary to prove its product. The Auckland University work in particular was brought forward as a result, Macpherson says.
MitoQ’s big potential is in two distinct markets, says Andrew Paterson, Callaghan Innovation’s Customer Manager Health - the US, where medical efficacy is important, and China, which is more consumer-driven.
“We have been working alongside the company and providing co-funding to ensure its R&D strategy aligns with what those markets want, and co-ordinating with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to facilitate market access,” he says.
Evidence-based marketing creating exponential growth
MitoQ started out selling skincare as an effective means of demonstrating the benefits of the product. But sales of the capsules soon outstripped the cosmetics, and now it offers a range of supplements to assist liver, heart, eye, blood sugar, joint and skin function.
And with mounting scientific evidence of MitoQ’s benefits, the company has seen a lot of overseas growth particularly. Its Chinese trade is growing exponentially, with demand from consumers looking for overall health benefits, and is distributing throughout the US and Europe as well.
MitoQ’s business model is selling a health supplement, as opposed to the considerably more complex and expensive process of developing a medicine. In fact, evidence-based marketing is a core pillar of the brand given consumers are getting savvier and savvier.
This means the company must walk a fine line to meet the regulations surrounding supplements marketing. For example, they cannot talk directly to customers about the findings of its research, however, if a doctor inquires it can show them the evidence, Macpherson says. “A lot of the work we do is talking to the medical profession at conferences and events, particularly in the US.”
