Three formerly independent practitioner-only nutraceutical lines –ProThera, Complementary Prescriptions, and Klaire Labs—will now be unified under a single Klaire Labs banner.

The move, an indicator of the continued evolution of practitioner channel supplements, was announced over the summer by Soho Floridis International (SFI), a global natural products company headquartered in St. Leonard’s, Australia. SFI owns all three of the formerly independent brands, along with other consumer-facing product lines like Ginsana.

The brand integration is accompanied by a massive investment in a new 75,000 square-foot manufacturing center in Reno, NV, a full upgrade of production and manufacturing processes, and the recruitment of top tier medical and management talent.

Kitchen Table Origins

Klaire Labs was originally founded in 1969, by Claire Farr, out of her own personal medical needs. Farr suffered from multiple allergies, food sensitivities and GI problems. After exhausting the then-available conventional medical modalities, she sought holistic alternatives.

At the time, nearly all vitamins and supplements were in pill form, and contained preservatives, flavorings, and additives to which Farr was highly reactive.

The company was born in Farr’s kitchen, when she began formulating and encapsulating raw materials for her own use—products that were entirely free of allergenic excipients. From the get-go she wanted to make these options available to others struggling with chronic conditions, and saw physicians as the primary way to reach them.

In 2004, Klaire Labs was purchased by ProThera which itself has a sterling reputation for quality and purity.  Both were later acquired, along with Complementary Prescriptions by SFI.

In unifying the three smaller brands, SFI hopes to create synergy, eliminate redundancy, and establish Klaire as a global leader among practitioner-only product lines.

Jeremy Appleton, ND, a naturopathic physician who has been a medical advisor to several top brands in the practitioner space, is Klaire’s new VP of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs.

Global Reach

He says the company is committed to honoring Claire Farr’s legacy and commitment to product purity, while simultaneously helping it grow from its family-run, entrepreneurial roots into a fully integrated business that controls every aspect of its operations, and can meet the new demands of a rapidly growing, worldwide market for practitioner-channel nutraceuticals.

“We are part of a larger global company that has significant capabilities elsewhere in the world. We have experienced industry veterans on staff who are second to none. We are engaged in a continuous improvement of our procedures and practices that includes internal audits, and audits of our (raw materials) vendors,” Dr. Appleton told Holistic Primary Care.

“We ourselves are audited by NSF, ISO, and FDA. And we are currently in pursuit of TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) certification.” The latter is the Australian equivalent of the FDA. TGA’s regulations and certification criteria are considered by many to be the most stringent in the world.

The ongoing process of forging a single entity out of three stand-alone companies brings many challenges. But they are ones Klaire’s leadership is willing and able to meet. “There have been some bumps along the way, but we are confident these changes will have the ultimate effect of elevating us far above most companies operating in this channel.”

END