Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo; President: Taro Iwamoto) announced an agreement with FoodState Inc. (Head office: New Hampshire, USA: CEO: Robert Craven) in which Pharmavite LLC (Pharmavite LLC; Headquarters: California, USA; CEO and Board Chair.; Connie Barry), a US subsidiary, acquired FoodState.

Food State Inc.

FoodState is a health care products company that was founded in New Hampshire in 1973 and currently has 162 employees. They are a pioneer of the natural food-based supplement in the US. FoodState markets two brands MegaFood for the natural & specialty channel, and INNATE for practitioners.

Objectives of the acquisition

• Objectives：Pharmavite's acquisition opens a new channel, natural & specialty, such as natural food stores and supplement specialty stores. The natural & specialty channel is the largest channel in the US supplement market.
• Benefits：The acquisition of FoodState will bring Pharmavite, which has the leading supplement brand, Nature Made, three strengths listed below and in turn help grow Otsuka's supplement business.

① Natural food-based supplement marketed in the US; MegaFood and INNATE
② Sales forces entering new channels in which FoodState has marketed; the natural & specialty channel
③ Proprietary unique technology to develop the food-based supplement by dehydrating the natural food

① Natural food-based supplement marketed in the US; MegaFood and INNATE

② Sales forces entering the new channels in which FoodState has marketed; the natural & specialty channel and practitioner channels

In addition to the mass market channel in which Pharmavite's products have been marketed, we can enter two new channels; the largest natural & specialty channel such as natural food and supplement specialty stores, and the practitioner channel.

③ Proprietary unique technology to develop the food-based supplement by dehydrating the natural food and retaining nutrients such as vitamins and minerals

FoodSate owns a proprietary technology called Slo-Food process™ . It extracts effectively nutrients from fresh vegetables and fruits bought from contracted farms. This process can dehydrate the foods, retain the nutrients and develop the supplements with minimum additives. We will have the future collaboration between FoodState's unique technology and Pharmavite's research and production technology that developed high quality supplements over forty years.

"Pharmavite's decision to acquire FoodState was heavily influenced by its values-based culture and dedication to its nutrition-focused mission, in addition to both companies' business strengths," said Connie Barry, Pharmavite CEO and Board Chair. "Pharmavite and our parent company, Otsuka, are driven by a vision to improve the lives of people through science and nutrition. The FoodState acquisition represents a natural extension of that vision. Our shared values, vision and mission truly provide a solid foundation for Pharmavite and FoodState's future success."

"Joining Pharmavite allows us to continue to fulfill our mission of improving lives by creating high-quality supplements made with farm fresh whole foods right in our New Hampshire facilities," said Robert Craven, FoodState CEO. "FoodState will maintain its existing executive and organization structure and will operate very much as it has been, reporting to Pharmavite through a newly formed Board of Directors. We're excited by the opportunity to grow with a company that shares our values."

Corporate Profile

Pharmavite LLChttp://www.pharmavite.com
The US-based healthcare company, Pharmavite was established in 1971and joined Otsuka in 1989. After that Otsuka marketed Nature Made, Pharmavite's supplement brand in 1993. Pharmavite also marketed SOYJOY, a baked soy bar in the US. Pharmavite has developed and marketed high quality health products such as Nature Made over forty years. Nature Made is a high quality supplement brand with no color and preservatives and has been the number one retail national vitamin and supplement brand in the U.S. for seven consecutive years, from 2007 through 2013^*and is distributed in 10 countries and region.

• * Pharmavite calculation based in part on data reported by Nielsen through its Scantrack^® service for the Dietary Supplements category in dollar and unit sales, for the 52-week period ending 12/29/2007 and 12/28/2008 in US Food Drug Mass channels; and for the 52-week periods ending 12/26/2009, 12/25/2010, 12/24/2011, 1/5/2013 and 1/4/2014 in US xAOC channels.

FoodState Inc.http://www.foodstate.com