HTBA’s approach to the global regulatory landscape and innovations in vitamin B12 active forms

Live from SupplySide Global 2025, Nutritional Outlook Associate Editor Erin McEvoy interviews Bernardo Gonzaga, global division manager–functional health solutions at HTBA. Gonzaga discusses how HTBA navigates the global landscape of compliance and regulations, plus the newest innovations with its active forms of B12, including MecobalActive.

Erin McEvoy: Hello everyone. I'm here at HTBA with Bernardo Gonzaga, and thank you for joining us.

Bernardo Gonzaga: Thank you for having me, thank you.

McEvoy: So HTBA is a global leader in flavonoids and B12 vitamins, active forms. Can you describe your experience with these specific bioactives, including their applications in functional health, pharmaceutical, or animal nutrition?

Gonzaga: Yes, of course. So HTBA has actually been around a lot longer than people realize. We're a young company by name, but we actually have a lot of experience stemming back all the way to the 1970s, when we were first founded. We were originally founded as a bio flavonoids manufacturer, mainly from citrus fruits, and since then we've also been producing vitamin B12 active forms. Our original business was mainly pharmaceuticals, so we originated from the pharmaceutical industry, but of course since then we've evolved as a company. We've branched off into functional health solutions, for dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, also in animal nutrition, and as well as taste modulation because of the versatility of our ingredients. So we are able to touch in many industries.

McEvoy: Nice. Very nice. So can you discuss your experience with maintaining quality, compliance, regulatory requirements in global manufacturing and supply?

Gonzaga: Yeah. So, first of all, we're a European manufacturer, right? So what that means is with European companies, they have very tight and very specific regulations. And that's something that we have to adhere to, but it's also at our core. We try to take the added steps to make sure that we can not only comply, but in some cases try to do our best to even challenge or exceed. So, for instance, we meet GMP, we meet ISO certifications required because our business is not just regional, it's global. We cater to North America, we cater to Latin America, we cater to Asia Pacific, and Europe, which means you have to hit a variety of regulatory hurdles. And that's what we do. So because we are, as an original company, founded on pharmaceutical basis and this mindset, that's kind of where our foundation starts from. We start from there, and then from there we try to produce a product or a solution that also is able to meet that regulatory landscape.

McEvoy: And what are the next one to two citrus botanicals or bioactives that are in the pipeline for innovation?

Gonzaga: Yeah, so for that, for us, that's very exciting. Flavonoids have always been very exciting. They're very versatile, they do a lot of things, but what we're particularly, really excited about is our vitamin B12 active forms. And just to touch on B12, it is a household name. People are familiar with it. But sometimes people don't really know what it actually does. All they know is, hey, it's supposed to be good for me, so what should I do with it? Well in our case, one of the things that we do is that we provide active forms of vitamin B12. So what this means is, it's a material or it's a version of vitamin B12 that your body can readily use. Not only that, it's actually a bioidentical form, which also means that it's the version that's found within the human body. Contrary to what you see typically out there on the market, there is a version of vitamin B12 called cyanocobalamin. That's pretty much your typical day-to-day vitamin B12. Most people don't know this, but it's a synthetic molecule. It doesn't exist anywhere in nature. And the versions that we produce are actually active forms. Like our MecobalActive, is our version of methylcobalamin, which is not only an active form, but it's a bioidentical form, meaning it's available in the human body and your body identifies it, therefore it uses it right away.

So you put on top of that our patented pre chemistry process and we present a product that is unlike any other world. Nobody can replicate the process because we're the only one. And our green chemistry process allows us to not only make a sustainable product, but also a pure product. And that's what we're excited about. We actually just did a new scientific clinical proprietary study for our MecobalActive product. And that's something that's being highlighted right now, because again, we're the first to do it and it's something that we're trying to create this whole concept of rethinking vitamin B12, because it's always been utilized or kind of understood that we should only take B12 to address some form of deficiency. But in reality what we're seeing is that you can actually take it to see some immediate benefits from it, like increase in performance, also a reduction in fatigue, or an increase in cognitive function. So, put that all together. It's very exciting.

McEvoy: Alright. Thank you.