The Surat-based Zota Healthcare Ltd, a pharma manufacturing, marketing and exports firm, is planning to grab the overseas market for the first of its kind anti-oxidant combination targeting liver psoriasis caused by alcoholism. The company has filed for patent with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which will enable it to market the product in around 142 countries including several European, African and Middle East nations.

The product branded as RTFit is a combination of two amino acids – taurine and racemethionine-- for liver disorders especially for alcoholic hepatitis. Zota launched the product in India almost two months back and is expecting it to be a hit in the market soon.

“We have received a good response in Indian market and recently applied with the PCT authority for patent. We expect to market RTFit in the major PCT member countries,” said Ketan C Zota, managing director, Zota Healthcare. The company is planning to market the product in 170 countries, soon after the PCT approval, he added.

Zota is expecting Rs 15 crore turnover for the product from India in the first year and has set target to reach Rs 100 crore in five years. Further, it has also plans to enter the US market, where almost six per cent of the population suffers alcoholism related disease, he added.

Company has already started the clinical trial of RTFit in various liver disorders with to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the product, said Dr Sanjay Agrawal, medical consultant, who developed the combination.

Earlier, the company has announced that it would initiate studies on the effect of the combination as a supplement for treatment of heart and skin disease in a later stage, informs Ketan C Zota, managing director, Zota Healthcare.

Taurine, a sulphur-containing amino acid mostly found in free form in the tissues and bloodstream, has been identified as useful in treating people with alcohol dependency and is a detoxifying agent with antioxidant action that helps protect liver cells against various toxins. The combination of taurine with racemethionine will have a synergistic actions, as both are hepatoprotective antioxidants, explains Dr Agrawal.

Racemethionine is an important sulphur containing amino acid with multiple functions throughout the body. Its role as an antioxidant and hepatoprotector has been widely documented. It protects hepatocytes and enhances their regeneration thus improving liver function. Further, it acts as important sulphur and methyl group donor in detoxification reactions in liver cells. Both taurine and racemethionine are important for normal functioning of liver. During deficiency of taurine body converts methionine to taurine via cysteine, he added.