Scientific Nutrition

The monograph that persuaded thousands of physicians and surgeons to consider TPN support

From critical care IV nutrition to infant formula...even a chance scan of a medical journal on Stanley Dudrick's then-new "hyperalimentation" therapy for NPO surgical and trauma patients persuaded ProClinica founder Mel Snyder that the agency had to get an account in the field.

At the time, concerns about possible catheter infections spooked many clinicians from using the procedure, even for patients who would die without it. Pioneer Dudrick provided the shocking "before" and "after" case proposed for the cover of ProClinica's first effort, and McGaw CEO Jack Olshansky gave the go-ahead for what became a CME "best-seller," with more than 100,000 monographs and over 1,000 slide sets distributed by request.

After that effort on behalf of McGaw's FreAmine, ProClinica -- and Olshansky -- moved to Cutter, for the difficult challenge of converting American clinicians to using Swedish-developed Intralipid fat emulsion instead of high-concentration dextrose as an IV calorie source. Five years and numerous teaching programs and high-impact ads and advertorials later, the "conversion" was complete.

ProClinica also developed materials for the Travenol-Nestle joint venture, Clintec, which brought the results of Nestle nutrition research to adults unable to eat solid food...and for the Campbell Soup therapeutic frozen food line, Intelligent Quisine, that never made it to supermarket shelves.

For more than four years, ProClinica was business development counsel to Tsumura, one of the world's leading herbal supplement companies, as it offered for international license several of its clinical-trial proven products that dominate sales in Japan. After launching these and almost a dozen other nutrition products, ProClinica knows nutrition!

Campbell Soup's "Intelligent Quisine" line of clinically proven frozen meals

Promotion of a mixing-bag technique helped make Intralipid a routine clinical calorie source

Unquestionably, one of ProClinica's most enjoyable ventures was its work for Nestle Vevey. Nestle, as the world's largest marketer of infant formula outside the U.S., was in the spotlight as the WHO directed all formula companies to market only to medical professionals. How does one "introduce" a brand as familiar as Coke and Kleenex to doctors who regarded formulas as basically equal and interchangeable?

In most economically disadvantaged nations, breastfeeding is a luxury. Shortly after delivering her baby, the mother often must return to work, and the child is cared for by grandparents. Frequently, physicians there are pressured to allow too-early transition to table food, for economic reasons.

ProClinica worked with infant nutrition specialists to identify a very key point: Formula is the main nutrition for the babies of non-nursing mothers during the period the brain is reaching most of its adult weight, at a time when digestive systems are still immature.

This sales aid was the first in a series. Its objective was to persuade clinicians to urge patients to keep their infants on formula as long as possible, to assure delivery of critical nutrients in a form the baby can fully absorb and metabolize.