The benefits of alpine plants are often underestimated. They can help prevent and treat all kinds of ailments, including vaginal infections. Small-flowered willowherb extract is particularly effective. This extract is a key ingredient in the products developed by Pharmalp to improve women’s health. Various research projects have led to the development of commercial products that are highly beneficial for women.
Over time, small-flowered willowherb (Epilobium parviflorum) has become Pharmalp’s flagship plant, particularly through an initial project launched in 2012 with the support of The Ark Foundation. “This allowed us to identify this plant, among more than a hundred others, as promising for treating vaginal infections caused by Candida albicans,” recalls Philippe Meuwly, co-founder and CEO of Pharmalp. “We then continued with the formulation development and have been marketing a cleansing gel for women’s daily intimate hygiene since 2015.”
A patent was filed and granted in the U.S. and Europe regarding the prevention of Candida albicans adhesion to the vaginal and oral mucous membranes. Small-flowered willowherb was also tested as part of a four-year Innosuisse project that Pharmalp secured in 2017. “The idea was to find a natural solution as an alternative to antibiotics for urinary tract infections,” explains Dorothée Sineux. Combined with another plant and three other natural ingredients, fireweed plays a key active role in the product INUROLA, which Pharmalp launched in the spring of 2022.
PhytoArk’s extraction platform has been extremely useful in the development of these various projects. “It has played a vital role in the successful development of our research projects, which involve both laboratory and industrial phases for small- to medium-volume plant extractions.”