Spruce trees have a secret weapon: their resin fights off bacteria. Now these healing powers have been harnessed by Finland\u2019s Repolar Pharmaceuticals and it is targeting international markets.<\/p>\n
Spruce resin is one of nature\u2019s little gems and it has been used for healing purposes for centuries. But gone are the days of relying only on old traditions. After years of clinical and laboratory tests, Finnish medical company Repolar Pharmaceuticals has developed a series of spruce resin-based products for the treatment of both acute and chronic wounds, burns and fungal infections.<\/p>\n
\u201cNature-based products are seen positively around the world, but the challenge is their varying quality. Some work, some do not. This why we emphasise scientific research,\u201d says Miika Jokinen, CEO of Repolar. \u201cEverything we do and what we claim about our products is based on medical research.\u201d<\/p>\n
Repolar was started in 2006 by four doctors Arno Sipponen, Janne Jokinen, Jouni Lohi and Pentti Sipponen and in this time its popularity has grown significantly. The company\u2019s resin salves, lacquers and washes have found their way into homes and professional use, with over 100 hospitals and health centres in Finland alone.<\/p>\n
Repolar\u2019s biggest seller is its first product \u2018Abilar 10% Resin Salve\u2019 launched in 2008. It became the first ever natural preparation to get an approval from the Finnish National Supervisory Authority of Welfare and Health and receive the European CE mark for medical devices and products.<\/p>\n
Abilar\u2019s credentials were further boosted this September. It was qualified by UK\u2019s National Health Service (NHS) for medical reimbursement opening up a market of over 60 million Brits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK is one of the most demanding countries in the EU to get an approval for registration and medical reimbursement,\u201d says Jokinen. \u201cIt is a strong indication of our product\u2019s effectiveness and cost-efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Powered by Lappish nature
\nWhen working in a health centre in Lapland, Arno Sipponen noticed that even troublesome wounds recovered using the so-called \u201cLaplander\u2019s resin salve treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n
Repolar Pharmaceuticals
\nBut why spruce resin? The sticky liquid first peaked the curiosity of Arno Sipponen in 2002 when he was working in a health centre in Kolari, Finnish Lapland. He noticed that even troublesome wounds not reacting to the usual treatments recovered using a local remedy: the so-called \u201cLaplander\u2019s resin salve treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n
Intrigued, Sipponen formed a cross-disciplinary research group to discover whether this was due to chance or science. What they found were the components that help spruce to fight off bacteria and fungus also have powerful antimicrobial, wound healing and skin regeneration enhancing effects. Now the same components are put in use in Repolar\u2019s medicinal products for both people and animals.<\/p>\n
The raw resin used in Repolar products is collected by hand from spruces in Lapland. It is then purified and refined using Repolar\u2019s patented methods and sent to its partners in Finland and Greece for manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe resin is collected from living trees without harming them as that guarantees the high quality of the resin. [Healthy trees] have all the right components in the right balance,\u201d Jokinen explains.<\/p>\n
Repolar\u2019s current research focus is on a new manufacturing technology the company developed two years ago. It makes it possible to transfer the active components of resin into a stable water solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is the potential to develop many new water-based products with this technology,\u201d says Jokinen. \u201cWe have already launched an ear wash for veterinary use and we are introducing two more products [one for people, one for animals] this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spreading roots
\nIt is safe to say Repolar punches above its weight when it comes to international markets. In addition to the NSH registration, the company\u2019s team of four has taken its resin products to Sweden, Germany, Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowth is challenging with the resources of a small company, but we are actively looking for new partners in different markets,\u201d Jokinen says. \u201cThis year we will go to two more EU countries and several other negotiations are underway.\u201d<\/p>\n
Repolar is also keen to grow outside Europe particularly in Middle East, Africa and Asia while keeping a strong R&D focus:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have high ambitions,\u201d says Jokinen. \u201cThere is still a lot of potential to develop and launch many more effective resin based products. We believe that strong growth is driven by new products and new markets.<\/p>\n
\u2018Sprucing up\u2019 just took on a whole new meaning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spruce trees have a secret weapon: their resin fights off bacteria. Now these healing powers have been harnessed by Finland\u2019s Repolar Pharmaceuticals and it is targeting international markets. Spruce resin is one of nature\u2019s little gems and it has been used for healing purposes for centuries. But gone are the days of relying only on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[11950],"supplier":[12036,12037],"class_list":["post-33757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioresin","supplier-repolar-ltd-oy-pharmaceuticals","supplier-valvira-national-supervisory-authority-of-welfare-and-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33757"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=33757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}