Beyond Glucosamine: Next Pharmaceuticals Announces New Natural Ingredient Improves Arthritis and Lowers Weight.

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Next Pharmaceuticals announced today the results of a clinical study on their new patented ingredient Citrofen[TM] that demonstrated the new patented formulation cuts stiffness in half for participants who had knee osteoarthritis and it boosted comfort and mobility by up to fifty percent. These results were obtained in a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial with eighty overweight and normal weight subjects. The clinical trial concluded that Citrofen[TM] has multiple benefits in people with knee osteoarthritis including significant loss of weight.

Utilizing the Lequesne Algofunctional Index (LAI) which is a measurement of comfort, stiffness, and mobility and measuring the participant's C-Reactive Protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation, the trial demonstrated that Citrofen[TM] showed a highly significant ( p<0.001) reduction in both the LAI (46.1% reduction in the overweight group and 31.9% reduction in the normal weight group) and the CRP concentration (48.9% reduction in the overweight group and 44.3% reduction in the normal weight group) over the 8-week trial period. In addition, the overweight subjects with knee osteoarthritis significantly lowered their weight and BMI (5.1%, p<0.001) while on Citrofen[TM]. The normal weight subjects did not lose weight.

"This is exciting news for people who are overweight and have difficulty walking and exercising!" said Bob Garrison, President and CEO of Next Pharmaceuticals. "Data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that the nation's cost for arthritis and related conditions rose to $128 billion in 2003, and the tab will continue to grow as the US populations gets older and heavier. Citrofen[TM] significantly improves mobility, lowers inflammation, and lowers weight as well as BMI. It's a home-run for the dietary supplement, functional food and beverage industries and takes us way beyond glucosamine and the other products in this category."

Citrofen[TM] was developed out of the research Next has been conducting on its patented extract from orange peel. This patented extract (U.S. Patent No. 6,184,246) was blended with a proprietary extract of the bark from the Phellodendron tree to arrive at the Citrofen[TM] formulation.

About Next Pharmaceuticals

Next Pharmaceuticals (NP) was founded in 1997 with the purpose of developing new, patented, natural ingredients for healthy living products in the dietary supplement, food and beverage industries. The goal of the company is to expand self-care and keep people out of the health care system for a longer period of time. NP has successfully developed six patented plant extracts plus Chromulin[TM], a new form of the essential trace mineral chromium for potentiating insulin, that have significantly expanded the choices for self-care products while providing large consumer brands with powerful product differentiation. Through the application of pharmaceutical technologies to natural botanical materials, including citrus fruits, NP has developed Relora[R] for relaxation and stress-related appetite control, Seditol[R] for better quality of sleep, Nexrutine[R] for inflammation, Citri-Z[R] for heart health; Flavoxine[TM] for healthy cholesterol, and Citrofen[TM] for mobility and comfort.