From pharma to lifestyle nutrition: Singapore firm launches day and night dual sleep and energy supplement
Known as Miriqa Deep Sleep and Bright Days, the two products are designed to respectively promote relaxation, deeper sleep as well as increase productivity and improve memory and focus during the day.
Both products are formulated with five ingredients each.
Deep Sleep, for example, contains GABA, Lingzhi, chamomile, turmeric, and jujube seed, while Bright Days consists of pomegranate fruit extract, panax ginseng, ginkgo biloba extract, maca, and KSM-66 ashwagandha root extract.
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Winthrop Wong and Geraldine Lim, Miriqa made its debut as a hair care supplement designed to promote hair growth in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020. Not long after, the brand added a skin health supplement to its range.
Both Wong and Lim hail from a second-generation pharmaceutical business at Wellchem Pharmaceuticals, where Wong is the director and pharmacist while Lim is the general manager.
The company distributes medical devices and OTC products such as Colpermin for the relief of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and eyedrops Lumecare. It has been in the pharmaceuticals business for nearly 50 years.
“Coming from a second-generation business, we need to come up with new ways to grow the business. We have been doing healthcare related products, like orthopaedics, biologics, disposables, cough and cold, probiotics.
“One area of interest to us is lifestyle products, which is health and beauty supplements and that’s something that we have done as well. We distribute vitamins to surgeons, doctors, so it’s not difficult for us, we know the material suppliers, manufacturers, what they are good for,” Geraldine Lim, general manager at Wellchem Pharmaceuticals, told NutraIngredients-Asia at the launch of Miriqa Deep Sleep and Bright Days.
“We want to bring business not only to other brands but also to our own brand, so that’s the reason why we came up with Miriqa,” she said.
This is also why the brand started with a hair growth supplement since the problem is common to both men and women but there is a lack of products designed for Asians.
“We didn’t want to do a me-too product, which is why we started with the hair supplement product designed for both men and women,” Wong said.
Common sleep and energy problems
On its latest launch, the firm explained that sleep issues are commonly associated with an overactive mind, stress, poor sleep habits such as irregular bedtime, uncomfortable sleep environment, as well as jet lag or frequently changing shifts.
On the other hand, daytime fatigue is commonly caused by a lack of quality sleep, anxiety and stress, nutrition deficiency, overconsumption of caffeine, and too much multitasking.
During the product development process, the company trialled with various ingredients including melatonin and valerian root, Wong said.
Both ingredients, however, were eliminated from the final formulation. In the case of melatonin, a main reason is because it could produce a sedated and groggy effect in the morning.
Miriqa Deep Sleep and Bright Days are currently sold via healthcare practitioners, such as GP and sleep clinics, as well as the brand’s website.
The products are sold separately in a box of 60 capsules – equivalent to one to two months’ supply – at a retail price of SGD$78 (US$58).
So far, Miriqa’s supplements are sold in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, with a heavy presence in the healthcare practitioner channel owning to its pharmaceutical roots. It is also preparing to enter the Indonesia, Philippines, and Taiwan market.
