How AvailOm® is solving the omega-3 problem brands have been working around

Omega-3 is a solved science and an unsolved product.

The science part is comfortable: EPA and DHA, essential for cardiovascular, cognitive, joint and eye function, backed by decades of clinical literature, recognised by every major regulatory body. Consumers know they need it. Brand owners know they should offer it.

The product part is where the category has been stuck for twenty years.

The formats formulators have been forced to live with

Soft gels

Soft gels work, but they're large, the consumer experience is poor (burps, fishy aftertaste, digestion complaints), and they exclude entire formats — no sticks, no gummies, no combination tablets, no functional beverages. For brands building a daily-ritual product for 2026 consumers, the soft gel is a compromise nobody wants to make.

Conventional omega-3 powders

Conventional omega-3 powders are worse. Most are encapsulated oils or oils absorbed onto carbohydrate carriers. The effective EPA+DHA load is low — often below 30% — and the powders are rarely directly compressible into tablets. You end up with bulky formats, compressibility problems at scale, or oxidation issues on shelf.

Ethyl ester

Ethyl ester — the standard concentrate form — requires emulsification via bile salts and hydrolysis by pancreatic lipases before the body can absorb it. Clinically real; commercially fine. But for a longevity-positioned brand trying to tell a bioavailability story, "requires digestion to work" isn't the headline.

The result: for most of the last decade, omega-3 has been the supplement every brand includes and nobody features.

What AvailOm® actually changed

Evonik's AvailOm® is an omega-3 lysine complex: EPA and DHA as free fatty acids, chemically bound to the essential amino acid L-lysine, producing a solid powder with properties the category hadn't seen before.

The primary bioavailability claim is supported by a first-in-human clinical pharmacokinetic study conducted at Wageningen University (The Netherlands) and published in Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids in 2020. Evonik confirms the key specifications in its published product documentation^[2]:

• 50% EPA+DHA as free fatty acids by weight — the highest-load omega-3 powder in its class.
• ~5× higher bioavailability vs a commercial oil-based ethyl-ester formulation (median AUC ratio 5.04 over 0–12h in fasted healthy adults, n=8)^[1].
• Directly compressible into tablets — smaller, easier-to-swallow formats with combination ingredients.
• Multi-year oxidation resistance — shelf stability that opens up global distribution and combination products^[2].
• No fishy aftertaste or burps — the consumer experience complaint that drives the category's churn.

It's worth noting the Wageningen study's honest scope: it was an acute pharmacokinetic comparison in a fasted state. Independent reviewers have pointed out that the five-times advantage applies most cleanly to the fasted use case and to individuals with compromised fat digestion (low-fat diet, reduced bile availability, gut inflammation)^[3]. That still covers a meaningful share of the longevity-consumer profile — and the free fatty acid form plus the oxidation-resistance and direct-compressibility properties deliver the formulation advantages independent of the bioavailability debate.

For formulators, this removes the trade-off between load, stability, and format. You can build a combination tablet with omega-3, botanicals, vitamins, minerals, probiotics — and stand behind the EPA+DHA content on the label.

Three grades, three briefs

AvailOm® comes as a platform, not a single product:

• AvailOm® 50 High EPA — minimum 30% EPA + 15% DHA. EPA is associated with cardiovascular, joint and inflammation endpoints. The healthy-ageing grade — the one to specify for longevity-positioned adult brands.
• AvailOm® 50 High DHA — fish-oil-derived, higher DHA concentration. DHA is associated with cognitive function, eye health, and infant development. Pregnancy, maternity, and cognitive-ageing positioning.
• AvailOm® 50 High DHA Algae — algae-oil-based, minimum 48% DHA as free fatty acids. Vegan and vegetarian. The grade that makes nutricosmetic and cognitive formulations work for the beauty-from-within category.

All grades are sustainably sourced and cleared for marketing in Europe, the US, and most major markets.

Longevity is mid-life now

The longevity conversation in 2026 is not about ageing. It's about the 40-year-old reading Peter Attia, tracking their ApoB, and formulating their own protocol. These consumers read labels. They compare EPA:DHA ratios. They know what "free fatty acid form" means. They notice when a product avoids the soft gel for good reasons.

AvailOm® is the ingredient that lets a brand answer that consumer seriously.

Pair it with clinically-proven weight management ingredients like Morosil® for a metabolic-longevity positioning, or with the right microbiota stack for a systems-level healthspan brief.

Meet us in Barcelona

Safic-Alcan distributes AvailOm® across Europe. The full three-grade range, plus the complementary portfolio for longevity formulations (carotenoids, DHA, antioxidants, minerals), will be on our stand at Vitafoods Europe 2026.

→ 5–7 May 2026 · Fira Barcelona Gran Via · Booth 3B143