Dr. Eri Nakazaki of the Kirin Central Research Institute Wins JSBBA Award for Her Work Developing a Health Food Ingredient to Support Memory

One of Kyowa Hakko’s own is honored for the enhancement of citicoline, which helps healthy elderly adults improve memory function

Dr. Eri Nakazaki

Leading international health ingredient manufacturer Kyowa Hakko U.S.A., Inc. and its parent company, Kirin Holdings, announced that Dr. Eri Nakazaki of the Kirin Central Research Institute was one of the winners of the 2022 JSBBA Award for Women Corporate Researchers for her work in developing Cognizin® Citicoline, Kyowa Hakko’s patented, ultra-pure, high-quality form of citicoline that is clinically studied to support brain health, mental energy, focus, and attention.

The award is given to females who have made outstanding contributions to the research or product development in the field of agricultural chemistry in their companies. The ceremony was held on Tuesday, March 15, at the 2022 annual meeting of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry (JSBBA). This is the second time a member of the Kirin Central Research Institute has won the award, the first winner having been announced in 2020. Karen Todd, MBA, RD, Vice President Global Brand Marketing, Kyowa Hakko USA, Inc., commented, “We are extremely pleased to see one of our esteemed colleagues win this prestigious award. Cognizin® Citicoline is garnering a lot of attention in the US market because of the growing demand for cognitive health products with ingredients that are backed by science.”

Citicoline is a naturally occurring brain nutrient found in the body and is especially vital to brain health. Dr. Nakazaki took part in developing a study in 2020 entitled “Effect of Citicoline on Memory Function in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial,” the latest study to investigate the effects of Cognizin® Citicoline on memory in healthy elderly populations with age-associated memory impairment (AAMI). The study notes that around 5.4 million elderly adults experience cognitive impairment without dementia and confirms that the overall memory of elderly men and women with AAMI was improved by taking Cognizin® Citicoline. The study proves that the product can be used as a functional health food ingredient to support memory.

“We have continuously developed our research on the health benefits of Citicoline while expanding the opportunities of its utilization as a functional food and beverage ingredient,” says Dr. Nakazaki. “Many health food products containing Cognizin® Citicoline have already been developed, mainly in the US. New science will drive innovation, and our hope is that Cognizin® Citicoline becomes widely used as an ingredient for brain health in multiple categories in a wide range of markets around the world. Our mission is to contribute to improving the health of people through science as we discover more health benefits of food ingredients.”

About Kyowa Hakko USA

Kyowa Hakko USA is the North & South American office of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co. Ltd., an international health ingredients manufacturer and world leader in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and food & beverage products. Kyowa is the maker of branded ingredients, including IMMUSE® LC-Plasma, Eyemuse® Lacticaseibacillus paracasei KW3110, Cognizin® Citicoline, Pantesin® Pantethine, Setria® Glutathione, as well as L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine. For more information, visit http://www.kyowa-usa.com.

About Cognizin® Citicoline

Cognizin® Citicoline, manufactured by Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., Ltd., is a clinically studied and branded form of Citicoline, a natural substance made endogenously in the body and especially vital to brain health.* Citicoline is a potent brain-health nutrient. A proprietary form of citicoline, Cognizin® has been clinically studied to support mental energy, focus, attention, and recall. Cognizin® is manufactured through a fermentation process to yield high quality and high purity. Cognizin® is also highly stable, GRAS, ultra-pure and allergen-free. For more information on Cognizin®, visit Cognizin.com.

About Kirin Holdings

Kirin Holdings Company, Limited is an international company that operates in the food & beverage industry, pharmaceuticals, and health science domains in Japan and across the globe. The company can trace its roots to Japan Brewery, which was established in 1885. Japan Brewery became Kirin Brewery in 1907. Since then, the company expanded its business with fermentation and biotechnology as its core technologies, and entered the pharmaceutical business in the 1980s. Under the Kirin Group Vision 2027 (KV 2027), a long-term management plan launched in 2019, the Kirin Group will continue to leverage its strengths to create both social and economic value through its businesses to achieving sustainable growth in corporate value.

Media interested in setting up an interview with Karen Todd, please contact Giselle Chollett: giselle@adinnyc.com or 917.386.7116.

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