A Slovenian company that makes an antioxidant pill some media have dubbed an "elixir of youth" is threatening to file lawsuits against scientists who have publicly spoken out against the product, calling it insufficiently tested. The face-off has an added bit of complexity: one prominent Croatian scientist is criticizing another who has endorsed the therapy.
The pill at the heart of the dispute, a mixture of four antioxidants—resveratrol, oligomeric proanthocyanidin, lycopene, and EGCG (green tea extract)—called Energiser HPE 40 or ADR, was introduced at a hotel press conference in Zagreb on 20 October by its maker Regiopharma, which already sells food supplements. Present at the media briefing and offering his support was Miroslav Radman, a Croatia-born scientist at the medical faculty of Paris University V, France, known for his work on DNA repair and bacterial cell death. Radman, who is also a co-founder and current head of the life sciences research institute MedILS in Split, Croatia, told local media that his team there had tested Energiser HPE 40 on cells and found it to be a powerful antioxidant. Radman added that he has been taking the pill, and it made him feel more energetic.
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