Gesundheit!

Man, those summer colds are the worst.

But if the Edmonton vendors of a natural-health product called Cold-FX can back up their claims, relief may be in sight. Depending on the outcome of clinical trials, which officials within the Capital Health Authority hope to run next winter, this could turn out to be a remedy that’s not to be sneezed at.

It won’t stymie SARS or lay waste to West Nile. But the scientist who helped develop Cold-FX insists previous clinically controlled tests have amply demonstrated there’s no better herbal product for beefing up your immune system.

Jacqueline Shan stops short of proclaiming that her ginseng-based, over-the-counter product can cure the incurable. But she does cite evidence that indicates those who take Cold-FX cut their risk of contracting common colds, flu and respiratory illness by 89 per cent.

Jack Dagley photo, for Business Edge
CV Technologies president Jacqueline Shan with the company’s flagship cold-fighting product.

“After years of scientific research, we know this product is a winner,” said Shan, an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta.

“And now we have the right business team in place to bring the product to the people. If they buy it once, they’re going to buy it twice.”

A Chinese-trained medical doctor with a lifelong interest in traditional Asian remedies (plus a Ph.D. in physiology from the U of A), Shan doubles as CEO and co-founder of a public company called CV Technologies Inc. (CVQ-TSXV).

It’s another in a long line of interesting corporations spawned within U of A research labs.

Her claims on behalf of Cold-FX might seem a bit hard to swallow. Nevertheless, Shan has assembled a cast of believers who seem ready to go to the wall for her.

Among them is the company’s poster boy, National Hockey Leaguer Todd Marchant, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers.

Marchant endorses the product, and players on 22 NHL teams are also said to take Cold-FX on a regular basis. (The Calgary Flames apparently aren’t among them. Athletic therapist Morris Boyer has sampled Cold-FX but a team spokes-man said he hasn’t seen a need to distribute it among Flames players.)

A scan of CV Technologies directors reveals that several more prominent names have hitched their wagon to this particular star. They include CVT board chair Gordon Tallman of Calgary, a senior VP at the Royal Bank; Kit Chan, a Calgary-based director of the Bank of Canada; and Dr. Bob Church, ex-president of the Stampede Board and professor emeritus of the University of Calgary med school.

Following an extended R&D phase, CV Technologies and its flagship product have been able to woo converts via word of mouth, since the 11-year-old company shifted focus from supplying corporate clients with contract pharmaceutical research to developing its own herbal remedies.

Despite a soft marketing thrust, the company has built up a fair share of goodwill, at least in Alberta.

CV Technologies managed a respectable $1.5 million in sales last year.

But now, with the Canadian Venture Exchange share price languishing in the 20-cent range as of last Friday, the company plans to escalate on the sales front.

Reinforced by fresh blood (a new chief financial officer and an incoming VP of sales/ marketing), CV Technologies is poised to pull a cross- country marketing putsch. That includes placing the continental U.S. within its long-range sights.

Shan is more comfortable with science than with sales, however. Soon, a new CEO is expected to step in (Shan will stay on as president/chief scientific officer) to run the company on a day-to-day basis.

As we speak, the product sits on the pharmacy shelves of Wal-Mart, Shopper’s Drug Mart and other big-box retailers from coast to coast.

It’s being sold in accordance with recently approved Health Canada regulations for so-called natural-health products. New regs go into effect next January. They require manufacturers to provide detailed info on ingredients and product potency, without imposing stricter standards required of “mainstream” Canadian drugs.

Officials within the Capital Health Authority hope to learn more about the efficacy of Cold-FX by clinically testing it on about 400 Edmontonians next winter.

Results of the proposed trials, currently awaiting go-ahead from the authority’s ethics committee, could make or break the company.

So wary anglers who fish the penny-stock waters may decide to shy away from CV Technologies, despite the bargain-basement share price. Could be just another biochemical flash in the pan.

Then again, there’s at least a fair chance it could earn a cash bonanza for speculators with enough moxie to sneeze . . . er, seize the moment.