Company News Briefs

VitaSave joined Excite Inc. (XCIT) as an anchor tenant within the Excite Shopping Channel’s Health & Fitness department, where the company is highlighted as a lead retailer and Excite Certified Merchant in the natural health-related-products category.

Chr. Hansen Inc. of Milwaukee, the world’s largest manufacturer of cultures, enzymes, natural colors and natural flavors for use in food and dairy products, is establishing a global Nutraceutical Ingredients Business Unit. Mary Oswald, technical account manager for Chr. Hansen BioSystems, will provide technical support.

NBTY Inc. (NBTY) in September was named 41st in Fortune magazine’s annual list of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies in America. NBTY ranked second among NY-based companies.

Metagenics Inc. of San Clemente, CA, celebrated groundbreaking in September on a new 87,600-sq.-ft. complex to house its headquarters staff, expected to be about 170 by the building’s opening in April.

AMBI Inc. (AMBI) licensed U.S. retail distribution rights to its AMBI’s Cardia Salt Alternative to American Home Products Corp.’s (AHP) Whitehall-Robins unit. AHP will make a $1 million up-front payment and purchase $4 million of AMBI shares in connection with the rights. AMBI retains the exclusive right to market its products in direct-response and ingredients channels. AMBI said due to its decision to focus on the AHP partnership it terminated negotiations to acquire a privately owned nutrition ingredients company.