Cooke Pharma Banks on HeartBar

BELMONT, CA—Four-year-old privately held functional foods maker Cooke Pharma is so confident in its HeartBar that the tiny company plans to give away about $1 million worth of product before the end the year.

“People see results within two weeks,” says President and CEO Darlene Walley. “After that they may adjust the dosage, but they’ll take it for the rest of their lives.”

HeartBars are the first-ever food product designed for the dietary management of heart

disease.

The bars sell for about $1.95 apiece and are available by the carton and case, Walley says. Cooke Pharma already has sold several million dollars worth of product. In an effort to get the word out, Cooke has been providing doctors with free samples and offering a 2-for-1 promotion on its website, Cookepharma.com.

During its developmental stages, Cooke raised about $6 million in three rounds of angel investment. In October it raised $12.5 million in its first round of venture-capital financing. Sherbrooke Capital LLC, a Lexington, MA-based venture-capital firm led the financing, investing $6.5 million. Walley says HeartBar has the potential to be a $100 million-a-year product.

The bar was created by John Cooke, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of vascular medicine at Stanford University. He founded Cooke Pharma in 1995.

The key ingredient is L-

arginine, an amino acid

necessary for the production of nitric oxide, which improves

circulation and restores blood-vessel function.

L-arginine has been clinically proven to improve the production of Nitric Oxide and the inner lining of blood vessels so that blood flows more easily. L-arginine is present in soy, pine nuts, peanuts and red meat—foods relatively high in fat and therefore often avoided by patients with heart disease.

Cooke researched the benefits of L-arginine for more than a decade and has a patent on

L-arginine used for the medical management of heart disease.

HeartBars contain 3 g of

L-arginine along with vitamins, minerals and fiber. Cooke recommends two bars a day for about two weeks, then an adjusted dosage.

“We chose the bar form because basically it seemed easiest,” Walley says. “To get the same amount of L-arginine, you would have to take 12 to 18 tablets a day.”

Cooke Pharma began test-marketing HeartBars in late 1998, kicked off an advertising campaign in January 1999 and started marketing in earnest last June.

At the end of October, HeartBars were carried in about 19,000 drugstores, about a 46% penetration of that distribution channel. “By the end of the year, we hope to be in 60% of drugstores, in at least one major mass merchandiser and in a few major food chains that have pharmacies,” Walley says.

Cooke has no plans to introduce HeartBars into the natural foods channel.

They are sold like an OTC drug and should be used under doctor supervision, Cooke says.