DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service

FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION

-
Memorandum
. EC231998
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From Senior Regulatory Scientist, Regulatory Branch, Division of~#@$ns @Enf$&ni!en~~l~~

(DPEP), Office of Special Nutritionals, HFS-456

Subject
75day Premarket Notification for New Dietary Ingredient

To Dockets Management Branch, HFA-305

New Dietary Ingredient: Nerium olennder

Firm: Ozelle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Date Received by FDA: December 1, 1998
90-day Date: February 13, 1999

In accordance with the requirements of section 4 13(a)(2) of the Federal Food, Drug, and
Cosmetic Act, the attached 75-day premarket notification for the aforementioned new dietary
ingredient should be placed on public display in docket number 95S-03 16 after February 13,
1999.
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH& HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service

Food and Drug Administration

Washington, DC 20204
OEC 23998

Mr. Joseph B. Nester

President
Ozelle Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
11825 IH 10 West
Suite 213
San Antonio, Texas 78230

Dear Mr. Nester:

This letter is in response to your submission to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
dated November 30, 1998 and received by FDA on December 1, 1998 making a submission
for a new dietary ingredient pursuantto21 U.S.C, 350b(a)(2). Your letter notified FDA of
your intent to market a product containing iVerium oleander extract.

lJnder 21 U.S.C. 350 b(a), the manufacturer or distributor of a dietary supplement that
contains a new dietary ingredient that has not been present in the food supply as an article
used for food in a form in which the food has not been chemically altered must submit to
FDA, at least 75 days before the dietary ingredient is introduced or delivered for introduction
into interstate commerce, information that is the basis on which the manufacturer or
distributor has concluded that a dietary supplement containing such new dietary ingredient
will reasonably be expected to be safe. FDA reviews this information to determine whether it
provides an adequate basis for such a conclusion. Under section 350b(a)(2), there must be a.
history of use or other evidence of safety establishing that the new dietary ingredient, when
used under the conditions recommended or suggested in the labeling of the dietary
supplement, will reasonably be expected to be safe. If this requirement is not met, the dietary
supplement is deemed to be adulterated under 21 U. S .C. 342(Q( 1)(B) because there is
inadequate information to provide reasonable assurance that the new dietary ingredient does
not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.

FDA has carefully considered the information in your submission, and the agency has
significant concerns about the evidence on which you rely to support your conclusion that a
dietary supplement containing N. oleander, when used under the conditions recommended or
suggested in the labeling of your product, will reasonably be expected to be safe. N oleander
is well known to be a poisonous plant. All parts of the oleander plant are poisonous to man
and animals and serious adverse effects are associated with ingestion, inhalation, and contact
of mucus membranes with oleander or oleander extracts. Adverse effects include, among
other things, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cardiovascular symptoms, and
peripheral neuritis. The most serious effects that are associated with exposure to oleander
result from the cardiotonic actions of the cardiac glycosides in oleander. The main cardiac
glycosides are oleandrin, folinerin, digitoxigenin, and oleandringen.
Page 2- Mr. Joseph B. Nester

Your submission contained data from an intramuscular injection study in dogs of your
oleander extract. However, that study is not relevant in establishing the safety of oleander
extract for oral consumption, in particular because you provided no toxicokinetic information
that would allow for an extrapolation of data of non-oral studies conducted in animals to the
safety of oral administration in humans. There also is no information in your submission that
bears on the presence (or absence) of the known toxic substances contained in oleander that
would enable a conclusion to be reached that this extract is safe; this is a particularly serious
limitation of the information contained in the submission given the well documented history
of accidental poisonings associated with oral oleander exposure and the extensive scientific
literature on its toxicity. Moreover, the risk associated with oral exposure to the cardiac
glycosides contained in oleander maybe greater in some persons - for example, those who
have pre-existing heart disease or arrhythmias, have hypokalemia or renal dysfunction, or
who are taking certain drugs (such as digoxin, diuretics, corticosteroids, beta-adrenergic
blockers, calcium channel blockers, and others) - than in others. Therefore, the failure of the
submission to address the safety of this extract in different consumer demographic
populations (particular children, those taking medications, or with underlying diseases) is a
serious omission.

For the reasons discussed above, the information in your submission does not provide an
adequate basis to conclude that N. oleander extract, when used under the conditions
recommended or suggested in the labeling of your product, will reasonably be expected to be
safe. Therefore, your product may be adulterated under 21 U.S. C. 342(f)( 1)(B) as a dietary
supplement that contains a new dietary ingredient for which there is inadequate information
to provide reasonable assurance that such ingredient does not present a significant or
unreasonable risk of illness or injury. Introduction of such a product into interstate
commerce is prohibited under 21 U.S.C. 331(a) and (v).

Please contact us if you have any questions concerning this matter.

Sincerely,
o
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Lynn A. Larsen, Ph.D.
Director
Division of Programs and Enforcement Policy
Office of Special Nutritional
Center for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition
 OZELLE PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
Y
11825 III 10 WEST SUITE 213
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78230
(&/s?
(210)690-0022 C)FFICE (210) 690-3015 FAX

30 November 1998

Office of Special Nutritional (HFS-450)

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Food and Drug Administration
200 c St. Sw
Washington, D.C. 20204

To Whom It May Concern:

Ozelle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPI) located at 11825 IH 10 West Suite 213, San
Antonio, Texas 78230, has developed a non-toxic nerium oleander extract product
“Oleander Extract Caplets” which is a dietary supplement in caplet form.
Recommended dosing is one caplet daily. Each caplet contains 20 mg of the oleander
extract. The extract is produced at OPI’S wholly owned subsidiary, TexTract
Laboratories, Inc. located at 130 West Rhapsody, San Antonio, Texas 78216.

OPI has engaged a number of independent research laboratories to conduct a wide

array of tests on the extract to help determine safety and action. These include:

1. A large animal long term toxicity study conducted by Southern Research

Institute in Birmingham, Alabama that showed no toxic effects on 32
beagle dogs. (See Attachment A).

2. A “fingerprint” polysaccharide analytical assay for OPI’S oleander extract

performed by Dr. Robert Newman, Chief of Pharmacology at M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. demonstrated batch to batch
consistency. (See Attachment B).

3. Extensive immunology studies at MDS/PANLABS showed the extract to

have immune stimulation properties that helps promote and maintain
immune responses. These results confirmed earlier studies showing
immuno active polysaccharides in our product (1. Carbik et al. 1990), (See
Attachment C).
This information is being submitted to the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
to satisfy informational requirements as described in the Diet Supplement Health and
Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), as finalized in 1997, section 190,6- requirement for
pre-market notification.

Thanking you for your attention to this matter, I remain,

Very truly yours,

JOSEPH B. NESTER
President

Attachments: A – C
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