SCOTTISH COMPANY SAYS GOOD RIDDANCE TO HEAD LICE

14 December 2005

A West of Scottish company has pioneered a head lice treatment made from the seeds of an Indian tree which has been proven to be more effective than traditional chemical remedies.

NeemCo, based in Irvine, Ayrshire, have used extracts from the seeds of the Neem Tree to create their trademarked Riddance product, a shampoo which can kill lice and stop eggs from hatching within a week.

Scientists at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene studied different parts of the tree and found that the seeds had a strong effect on mature head lice and their eggs.

Current treatments such as organophosphate work by poisoning the tiny insects with neurotoxins, and are only effective in around 22 per cent of cases – leaving four in five sufferers no better off. Even then, the remaining lice become resistant to the treatment, and the chemicals are absorbed by the skin and can cause ill effects.

Riddance works by preventing the lice from breeding, biting and feeding, effectively starving them to death.

Michael Mason, founder of NeemCo, said: “Head lice are still a problem for a lot of school children because there’s never been a truly effective remedy which kills lice and their eggs.

“By approaching this problem scientifically we believe we’ve managed to come up with a product which signals the next generation of head lice treatment. The validation of this product from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is a valuable indicator of how effective Riddance is, and it’s also helped us to set up distribution channels.”

NeemCo sell Riddance under their own India Tree label and herbal remedies company Bioforce also distribute the product under license.

Riddance is available from larger Sainsbury’s and Tesco stores, as well as many independent health food retailers. It can also be purchased online from www.neemco.co.uk.

For further information contact Bryan Garvie or Marjorie Calder of The BIG Partnership on or Jan Clark, Marketing Communications Officer, Nexxus, The West of Scotland BioScience Network on .

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