Bioenergy, Inc.: At the Heart of Energy Production

Bioenergy, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, began operations in January 1997 as a result of medical research carried out by John Foker, MD, PhD, a University of Minnesota pediatric cardiovascular surgeon and biochemist. While studying cardiac metabolism from the 1980s to mid-1990s, Dr. Foker uncovered a temporal relationship between the amount of energy in the heart (i.e., its cellular energy charge) and the diastolic function of the heart—the heart’s ability to relax, refill and stay flexible.

According to Clarence Johnson, president and CEO, Bioenergy, Dr. Foker determined a metabolic pathway, called the pentose phosphate pathway, held the key to maintaining the cellular energy charge, and hence impacting diastolic heart function. Since the heart and most other tissues in the body use this metabolic pathway to make D-ribose, Dr. Foker speculated that D-ribose was the rate limiting substrate in cellular energy synthesis.

Researchers around the world duplicated this work. At the University of Munich (Germany) it was found that ribose administration to patients with ischemic heart disease increased their exercise tolerance and delayed the onset of angina during exercise. Other research established that ribose treatment of sick hearts helped improve heart function, increase the exercise tolerance and quality of life of patients, and increased the hypoxic threshold, allowing hearts to do more work with less oxygen.

Despite the fact that Bioenergy was originally founded to continue Dr. Foker’s cardiovascular research, the company has grown to include broader markets and a wider range of applications for ribose. Through scientific and clinical research, it was found that orally administered ribose was also effective for increasing cellular energy reserves in stressed tissue—whether the stress is caused by disease, conditions that affect tissue metabolism or even overexertion.

Mr. Johnson said it’s important to note that ribose, a five-carbon monosaccharide, is unlike any other sugar. “It is not burned as fuel by the body, but is instead preserved for the work of synthesizing an important class of compounds in the body called purines and pyrimidines,” he said. “These compounds are used to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of the cell, and a host of other important cellular constituents, including DNA and RNA, the genetic material used for cell replication and protein synthesis. No compound other than ribose can stimulate and regulate the meabolic synthesis of these critical constituents, making ribose vital to our existence.”

Medical research has shown that a large percentage of the population is energy starved, resulting in poor health. Bioenergy believes ribose can effectively combat this fundamental lack of tissue energy for a broad population, including athletes, those concerned about cardiovascular health, the aging population, and “weekend warriors” overstressing muscles with work or athletic exertion.

Supplementing with ribose can bypass the slow process of natural ribose synthesis in the body and accelerate energy recovery. In fact, it was these findings that led to the introduction of Bioenergy’s current ribose products, which are marketed as both functional ingredients and finished proprietary nutrition products.

Bioenergy Ribose is a branded, 100% pure ribose functional ingredient that is effective in all types of beverages, nutrition bars, meal replacements, dairy products and functional foods.

The Corvalen product line includes two branded finished products, Corvalen and CorvalenM. “Corvalen products are currently used for energy pre-loading prior to open heart surgery, cardiac recovery and rehabilitation, to improve exercise tolerance and quality of life in heart patients, and to relieve the symptoms of fatigue and muscle pain associated with heart disease and neuromuscular disease,” said Mr. Johnson. “Corvalen is a pure ribose product, while CorvalenM includes ribose, magnesium and malate.”

Most recently the company restructured its business, and effective October 1st, Bioenergy Life Science, Inc. (formerly Valen Labs, Inc.) became Bioenergy’s subsidiary charged with commercializing nutrition products, including functional ingredients and clinical nutrition finished products. This includes applications associated with topical use, such as cosmetics and skin care. Bioenergy Pharmaceutical, Inc. is the subsidiary re-searching ethical drug applications for ribose, Bioenergy Cell Technology, Inc. is involved with researching and commercializing biologics applications, and Bioenergy, Inc. is the parent of theseoperating subsidiaries.—M.Z.

Bioenergy, Inc.
13840 Johnson Street NE
Minneapolis, MN 55304
Telephone: 763-757-0032
Fax: 763-757-0588
Website: www.bioenergy.com