THE STORY OF FORZA™

---

The Osmotin plant protein was discovered in 1987, and it has since been universally recognized for the important protective role it plays in plants' response to environmental stresses. It was also established, however, that, although Osmotin is present in all plants, it is only found in minimal amounts. 

Following this discovery, laboratories in universities around the world launched various research projects to better understand and harness Osmotin's potential in plants. 

One such lab in a leading agricultural Italian University focused on the daunting task of bionegineering Osmotin-rich olive trees and kiwi vines, as these plant varieties are among Italy's principal exports, with major economic, environmental, and cultural values. The research effort was led by our Chief Biotechnology Advisor Prof. Eddo Rugini, Ph.D. and our CEO Dr. Bruno Ruggiero, PhD. 

Not only was the Italian team successful in the lab, but following about 10 years of R&D, the now Osmotin overexpressing super plants plants were also successfully field-tested for another 10 years, confirming their ability to thrive under drought-stress, cold stress, fungal attacks and overall having superior agronomic qualities compared to common kiwi and olive varieties.

Meanwhile, in 1995, in a seemingly unrelated event, the human hormone Adiponectin was discovered in the adipose tissue, which gives it its name. It quickly became clear that Adiponectin could be an excellent anti-diabetes therapeutic target candidate. However, as time went by, no practical way of using Adiponectin therapeutically was identified. Efforts to create a synthetic version of Adiponectin failed as well. 

In the late 1990s, following his success with the development of the Osmotin-rich olive and kiwi plants in Italy, our CEO Dr. Bruno Ruggiero, Ph.D. was invited to continue his work on Osmotin by joining a US-based team of plant biotech researchers at Purdue University, one of the world's leading agricultural universities. 

The US-based team set to work, and they soon noted a remarkable similarity between the newly published 3D structure of Adiponectin and that of the plant protein Osmotin. If they were right, this overlapping of structures meant that Osmotin would mimic Adiponectin's therapeutic activity and, as it was sourced from plants, theoretically, Osmotin could become a tangible and powerful anti-diabetes therapeutic candidate. 

The initial laboratory work in animal diabetes models confirmed this expectation and a entirely new horizon of opportunities became open to exploration. 

Dr. Ruggiero, who had by then completed his PhD., had also founded his first biotech company in the US and launched it on the London Stock Exchange, and continued his work on Osmotin, among other cutting edge biotechnologies.

In 2004 Bruno provided a $1 million USD gift to Purdue University to promote research on Osmotin's human health applications. 

With this in mind, in 2013 Dr. Ruggiero co-founded 9th Dimension Biotech, Inc. with the goal of bringing a life-time of experience in biotech and the best technology in the field to the market with a strategic and solution-oriented approach. 

As an established leading expert on both Adiponectin and Osmotin, in 2016 Dr. Ruggiero was honored to receive a US Einstein visa for his work in this field. Under his leadership, 9th Dimension Biotech has developed a powerful interdisciplinary network of relationships and collaborations with the world's leading scientists and best research institutions in pursuit of the mission to identify and develop the most promising technologies to offer quality solutions to the world's most difficult problems. 

As a company we have developed an eclectic portfolio of technologies, first and foremost among them, our most advanced, market-ready tech represented by our Osmotin kiwi and olive plants, the perfect source of our first Osmotin-rich product FORZA™️.