Ocean Produce International
OPI's Life Science Group is now the world's primary producer of raw material for the extraction of kainic acid and a derivative compound called dihydrokainic acid. Under a strategic alliance with BioVectra™DCL, OPI has the compounds extracted and markets the amino acid and its derivative.
These glutamate and aspartate free excitatory amino acids affect neurotransmitters and are used in neuroscientific research dealing with neurodegenerative diseases like epilepsy and alzheimer and are sold under the brand names Opika-1™ Kainic Acid and Opika-1™ Dihydrokainic Acid. Primary competitors are Sigma and Tocris - the former marketing a lower purity synthetic and the latter marketing a product extracted from Digenea simplex - an algae that is wild harvested in Asia and a plant that has been under severe environmental stress for some years. If the words that drive your research include ionotropic, kainate, agonist, AMPA, NMDA, synaptogenisis, synaptic, neurodevelopment, neurotoxic, then you have come to the right place.
OPI's Life Science Group is also involved in the development of unique lipids from its Sea Parsley™. Of particular interest are the Omega 3 Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) and nervonic acid, both long-chained polyunsaturate phospholipids known to have many nutritional and medicinal attributes. Short-term applications of these and other lipids found in Sea Parsley™ include their use as fine chemicals for medical research and their eventual use in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. Related developments are also underway to make use of the extraordinary mix of vitamins, proteins, amino acids, minerals and antioxidants that exists in Sea Parsley™.
These same chemical attributes found in Sea Parsley™ are under development in OPI's Nutraceutical Group whose primary aim is to develop raw materials and compounds for use in functional foods, nutraceutical products, nutritional ingredients and culinary applications. Sea Parsley™ is an award winning culinary ingredient and winner of Gold Medals at Carnegie Hall in 1997 and again in 1998 from the American Taste Institute and the Canadian Grand Prix - Produce in 1998 from the Canadian Grocery Distributor's Association.