Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: NUS) concluded its 25th Anniversary Convention in Los Angeles with record attendance, record product sales and record contributions to its nonprofit foundation. The biannual global distributor convention attracted more than 12,000 distributors from the company's 48 international markets. The largest delegations of sales representatives came from the United States, Japan and Korea.
"ageLOC represents the biggest global product launch in Nu Skin history," said Truman Hunt, Nu Skin president and chief executive officer. "Sales force enthusiasm for our new ageLOC daily skin care system produced unprecedented demand with sales exceeding our most liberal revenue projections. By developing products with an understanding of the genetic basis of aging through our proprietary ageLOC science, we believe we are continuing to provide the premier anti-aging business opportunity for our sales representatives -- one that represents a 'sweet spot' by leveraging a growing global megatrend with exclusive and scientifically validated products that help people look and feel young."
In addition to the new ageLOC product lineup, the company also launched several business marketing tools including an online opportunity video focusing on planning for the future (https://www.youtube.com/nuskincorporate#p/u), new smart phone applications and an aging simulator tool to help start conversations on anti-aging products. The company's web site also received a facelift and is available at http://www.nuskin.com.
ageLOC Product Introductions
The company unveiled a lineup of revolutionary anti-aging products -- a comprehensive daily skin care system that is clinically tested to transform skin to reveal a more youthful appearance beginning after just seven days of use. The ageLOC Transformation set is infused with ingredients that represent next generation anti-aging skin care science to target the sources, as well as the signs, of aging.
The set is comprised of four products designed to reduce the appearance of aging in the skin. The star product, ageLOC Future Serum, combines the benefits of many different anti-aging products to reveal younger looking skin in eight key ways beginning in just seven days. Other products in the set include ageLOC Gentle Cleanse & Tone, ageLOC Radiant Day SPF 22 and ageLOC Transforming Night.
ageLOC daily skin care products will be available globally in the first half of 2010, led by launches in Japan, North America and Europe in January and followed soon thereafter in South Korea, Greater China and Southeast Asia.
New Research Partnerships
Nu Skin also announced two key research partnerships with Stanford University and LifeGen Technologies. Researchers at Stanford have focused on profiling gene expression during human development and aging, and have also explored novel modes of gene control in aging skin. Nu Skin's agreement with Stanford aims to increase the understanding of fundamental aging mechanisms in humans by translating insights from basic science into human application. The agreement also includes access to Stanford's expertise in dermatological clinical trials.
Nu Skin will also collaborate with LifeGen in an exclusive agreement by leveraging LifeGen's proprietary methods regarding gene expression profiling and pathways affected by aging. LifeGen was co-founded in November 2000 by Richard Weindruch, Ph.D., and Tomas Prolla, Ph.D., professors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and leaders in the fields of gerontology and genetics. The mission of LifeGen Technologies is to discover the genetic basis of the aging process with the ultimate goal of increasing a healthy life span. LifeGen's pioneering research has resulted in several pending patents, and ongoing research undertaken in collaboration with Nu Skin is expected to yield further important intellectual property. LifeGen's patent for the use of "gene expression profiling" as a method to measure the progression of the aging process at the molecular level in individual organs is expected to be a key component of the partnership.
The Nu Skin and Pharmanex labs in Provo, Utah, have been renamed to "Nu Skin Enterprises Center for Anti-aging Research" to focus on the company's premier anti-aging science for development of both personal care and nutritional products. Similarly, the company's scientific advisory boards have been combined to create the Nu Skin Anti-aging Scientific Advisory Board, with the addition of two key scientists, Drs. Weindruch and Prolla from LifeGen Technologies.
Nu Skin Corporate Social Responsibility
As part of its mission to be a force for good in the world by improving lives, Nu Skin's "force for good" culture is a key component of the company's brand and includes a nonprofit foundation, a social business initiative and outreach efforts in local markets around the world.
On the eve of the convention, the Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation hosted a fundraising gala in the historic Millennium Biltmore hotel in downtown Los Angeles. With approximately 500 guests in attendance, the Foundation raised more than US$750,000. One hundred percent of donations are used for projects around the world that offer hope for children to have a life free from disease, illiteracy and poverty (http://www.forceforgood.org). California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a surprise appearance at the closing session of the convention and accepted a US$100,000 grant from the Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation to help fund after-school programs in California.
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