Indore Company Gets Patent For Supplement It Says Can Fight Muscle Loss From Weight-Loss Drugs

Indore-based Makin Laboratories has been granted a patent for a supplement formula that it says can slow the loss of muscle mass.

The company a CDMO mainly makes nutraceuticals on contract for other brands. The patent is part of its push to license formulations it owns.

The patent, No. 596455, is titled "Bioactive composition for Muscle Health" and was granted. Makin markets the formulation as Sarcovive and is seeking a pharmaceutical partner to license it or sell it under a co-brand.

The company is pitching the product at a problem that has grown alongside the popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide: patients lose muscle as well as fat.

Four ingredients, one target

Sarcovive combines calcium HMB, a compound the body makes from the amino acid leucine, with all nine essential amino acids plus arginine, vitamin D3 and astaxanthin, an antioxidant pigment found in algae.

Makin says each ingredient acts on a different step in the muscle cycle. The amino acids supply the raw material for new muscle, HMB is meant to slow its breakdown, vitamin D supports muscle function and astaxanthin protects against oxidative stress.

In its own promotional material, the company cites clinical data suggesting that 25 to 39 per cent of the weight lost on GLP-1 drugs can be lean mass. It also points to earlier trials in which HMB taken with vitamin D helped older adults keep muscle. 

A contract maker turns inventor

Makin has operated since 2013 largely as a contract manufacturer, producing supplements, herbal products and cosmeceuticals for other companies' brands from its plant in Pithampur, near Indore. It runs a WHO-GMP certified operation and says it has developed more than 350 formulations and exported to over 25 countries.

The patent signals a shift towards owning its own intellectual property. Sarcovive is one of three formulations for which Makin says it holds granted patents, alongside Ostizeel, for joint health, and Respimune, for respiratory immunity. The company says a further 16 applications are under examination in India.

Its in-house research unit at Pithampur is recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, a recognition the company says is valid until March 2029.

What the patent does not show

A patent protects a formulation from being copied. It does not establish that the product works. Makin acknowledges that Sarcovive has not been tested as a combination alongside a GLP-1 drug, which is the use it is now promoting to drugmakers.

The company says it has completed preclinical studies on its formulations and registered one human study with the Clinical Trials Registry-India.