Scientific integrity and innovation have been central to the AOR philosophy since its foundation. AOR’s origins lie in the pharmacy of the organization’s Research Director, Dr. Traj Nibber, when he was contacted by People With AIDS (PWA) advocacy groups searching for a source of hard-to-find formulations for AIDS buyers’ groups. His initial surprise at the lack of access to these nutritional supplements soon turned to empathic frustration, as he realized how many people were suffering from the failure of the dietary supplement industry to make available nutrients whose role in health were well-established by rigorous scientific investigation – and the simultaneous willingness of the same companies to promote supplements on flimsy scientific evidence.

Dr. Nibber found a supplement industry which refused to evaluate new evidence or to hold their existing lines up to the light of clear standards of evidence; which was happy to keep selling yesterday’s products when a superior, innovative supplement was better-documented by research. He also found that most companies were unwilling to develop genuinely novel orthomolecular interventions, preferring to respond passively to the marketing of supplement raw materials – new or old – by their suppliers. He also found that the industry was too willing to be cowed by government regulators and by bureaucratic red tape, and to skimp on quality control to lower prices even at the expense of clinical efficacy.

At first, Dr. Nibber simply sourced and compounded the specific formulations needed by his PWA contacts. Later, as word of Dr. Nibber’s helpfulness spread and the need for his services expanded, Dr. Nibber began to develop standardized formulas that could be manufactured on a larger scale by contract manufacturers. As his contacts with global pharmaceutical and natural health product suppliers expanded and as he began to immerse himself more in the literature on nutritional factors in health, he began to develop formulations of his own and to launch new natural health products into a wider audience of health-conscious individuals, life extension radicals, and health practitioners seeking a new generation of more effective natural solutions to the chronic health concerns of their patients.

In a little over a decade, AOR has become a leading provider of genuinely innovative nutraceuticals in North America and around the world. We have continued to innovate over the years, consistently putting science-backed natural health products into the hands of health care practitioners and consumers.