February 19, 2007, Halifax, Nova Scotia – Origin BioMed Inc., a manufacturer of
over-the-counter topical drug products, recently launched its lead product Neuragen®,
into Canada’s most successful drug store chain, Shoppers Drug Mart.  Neuragen® is a
topical oil for rapid relief of diabetic and post-shingles pain, targeting the $4 billion
neuropathic pain market.
 
According to Wayne Miller, Origin’s Director of Marketing and Sales, “Shoppers Drug
Mart becomes the first Canadian retailer to launch Neuragen from coast to coast.” 
 
Miller adds, “After conducting a successful pilot campaign in Atlantic Canada, Shoppers
Drug Mart was impressed with the tremendous consumer response and decided to
launch Neuragen into all 1046 stores.”
 
With the epidemic of diabetes, it is important that new treatments are available for
people suffering from pain due to nerve damage.  And more importantly, access to new
treatment is paramount.  Miller states “Shoppers Drug Mart’s confidence in this valuable
product will allow them to offer it to the greatest number of people who are suffering from
these neuropathic conditions.”
 
Gary Smith, former Associate and owner of Shoppers Drug Mart stores in Saint John,
New Brunswick, states,“Neuragen has the potential to be a blockbuster product. It is
effective in relieving pain in a variety of nerve related conditions such as diabetic
neuropathy, shingles, and fibromyalgia. It offers distinct advantages over systemic
medications with few or no side effects and greater efficacy.” 
 
About 60% to 70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system
damage. The results of such damage include impaired sensation or pain in the feet or
hands and other nerve problems (www.diabetes.org).  
 
“Neuragen works in 5 to 20 minutes and provides up to eight hours of relief,” according
to Miller.  For shingles and other neuropathy sufferers, “it’s the first real opportunity to
have an additional pain management tool,” he says.  “The NSAIDs don’t even touch this
kind of pain,” he adds, referring to anti-inflammatory drugs.  Miller calls neuropathy a
“distress category,” saying doctors really have few effective treatment options.