About Sheni Labs

About Sheni Labs

Sheni Labs is the evidence-based supplement line of the Public Health Institute of Georgia (PHIG), a Georgian public health institution established in 2011.[1] Every product is manufactured in the European Union and sold with complete ingredient disclosure, batch-specific quality documentation, and a public verification system — not marketing claims.

The Institution Behind the Brand

Sheni Labs did not start as a supplement company. PHIG was founded in 2011 by Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD, with a focus on three areas of public health: healthcare quality and accreditation standards, public health promotion, and food safety. The institute’s work predates Sheni Labs by thirteen years.

In 2020, PHIG established its media holding — the Georgian Medical Journal (GMJ, ISSN 3088-4322, DOI prefix 10.66636)[1] and the Sheni Network of health information platforms, including SheniEkimi, a consumer health education platform. The media arm was built before any product existed, and independently of any commercial interest in supplements.

What We Found When We Looked at the Market

In 2024, PHIG launched SupplementIndex (supplement.ge), an independent ingredient safety database covering over 385 active ingredients with structured 55-field profiles per ingredient.[2] In the process of compiling this database, we identified a pattern in the Georgian supplement market: major global brands were not providing the quality and safety information that Georgian food supplement law requires.[3]

Over the following period, PHIG attempted to change this from outside the market: investigative articles and educational video content identifying specific compliance failures, direct engagement with Georgian regulatory bodies, a free transparency review program offered to companies who wanted to demonstrate good practice to their customers. None of it moved the market.

The conclusion was direct: the only way to prove transparency was possible was to demonstrate it with a real product.

What Sheni Labs Is and Is Not

Sheni Labs is a real commercial enterprise with a real business model. We intend the product line to grow and to succeed commercially. It is not a charity or a not-for-profit.

What makes it structurally different from a conventional supplement brand is where the surplus goes: any profit, after costs, is reinvested into the Public Health Institute of Georgia, funding both ongoing public health work and development of future products in this line. This is a deliberate structural decision that aligns commercial incentive with public health purpose rather than separating them.

The Product Standard

Every product in the Sheni Labs line is required to meet the same standard before it ships:

  • Single-ingredient formulation — every active ingredient listed separately, no proprietary blends
  • Pharmacopeial testing — raw materials tested against USP and/or European Pharmacopoeia (Ph.Eur.) standards[4] for identity, potency, and safety
  • EU manufacturing — produced under GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), ISO 22000:2018, and HACCP-certified conditions[5]
  • Independent batch verification — every production batch tested by a third-party laboratory before release
  • Public LOT traceability — every bottle carries a LOT number linkable to its batch documentation at shenilabs.ge/verify-your-batch/

The Product Line

Sheni Labs has eight single-ingredient products, all in the same oil-drop format using MCT carrier oil (Miglyol® 812 N, Ph.Eur. grade, Kosher and Halal certified).[6] Seven are fat-soluble and genuinely oil-soluble in their pharmacological form — not oil-suspended; vitamin B12 is dosed orally at a level trial-proven equivalent to injection. The ingredients were selected based on: (a) documented global deficiency prevalence, (b) strength of published clinical evidence at the intended dose, and (c) genuine compatibility with oil-drop delivery without formulation compromise. Full evidence for each is on the Science page.

  • Vitamin D3 — 2,000 IU cholecalciferol per drop, 1,000% NRV[7] — Live product
  • Omega-3 — 1,000 mg EPA+DHA (algae-derived) per 5 ml serving; targets the majority of the global population failing to meet recommended intake[8]
  • Vitamin E — 134 mg natural d-alpha-tocopherol (1,117% NRV),[7] natural form selected for its higher biological activity over synthetic[9]
  • Astaxanthin — 12 mg natural astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis; 12 mg is the upper dose range studied in published skin-elasticity RCTs[10]
  • CoQ10 — 100 mg ubiquinol (reduced form); CoQ10 declines 40–50% in cardiac tissue between young adulthood and age 77+[11]
  • Vitamin K2 — 100 µg all-trans menaquinone-7; high menaquinone intake is associated with less coronary calcification in the Rotterdam cohort[13]
  • Vitamin B12 — 500 µg methylcobalamin; high-dose oral B12 is trial-proven equivalent to intramuscular injection[14]
  • Vitamin A — 800 µg RE retinyl palmitate, exactly 100% NRV; common BCO1 variants make carotenoid-only intake unreliable[15]

Leadership

Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD is the founder and Chair of PHIG, and the scientific director of the Sheni Labs product line. He holds a professorship at David Tvildiani Medical University in Tbilisi, serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Georgian Medical Journal,[1] and is Secretary/Treasurer of the UEMS Public Health Section.[12] His international career has included work with the World Health Organization, the Global Fund, and multiple UN agencies. Sheni Labs is an extension of the same institutional mission that has defined his career for over two decades.

Read the full founding story · Leadership · Our Products · Quality & Certifications

References

  1. Georgian Medical Journal. ISSN 3088-4322, DOI prefix 10.66636. Published by the Public Health Institute of Georgia, Tbilisi. Available at: gmj.ge
  2. SupplementIndex (supplement.ge). Public Health Institute of Georgia, 2026. Ingredient database version 10.6.x: 385+ active ingredients, 55-key structured profiles. Available at: supplement.ge
  3. What compliance reviews find on the Georgian supplement market — GMJ News. Legal basis: Directive 2002/46/EC; Georgian Food Safety Law (harmonised standard). PHIG investigative documentation on file.
  4. What USP standards actually test — GMJ News. Primary standards: United States Pharmacopeia (USP); European Pharmacopoeia (Ph.Eur.), 11th edition. Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
  5. What GMP and ISO 22000 mean for supplement manufacturing — GMJ News. Primary standard: ISO 22000:2018. Food safety management systems — Requirements for any organization in the food chain. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva. Codex Alimentarius Commission. General Principles of Food Hygiene CXC 1-1969 (HACCP basis).
  6. IOI Oleochemical GmbH. Certificate of Analysis, Miglyol® 812 N, AZ-0074659. Confirms Ph.Eur. grade, Kosher and Halal certification.
  7. The EU NRV system explained — GMJ News. Primary legislation: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII: EU Nutrient Reference Values. Vitamin D NRV = 5 µg; Vitamin E NRV = 12 mg alpha-tocopherol.
  8. Why 3 in 4 people worldwide don’t get enough omega-3 — GMJ News. Primary study: Minihane AM et al. (University of East Anglia, University of Southampton, Holland & Barrett). Global omega-3 deficiency study, 2025. EFSA recommended intake: 250 mg EPA+DHA/day (EFSA Journal 2010;8(3):1461).
  9. Burton GW et al. Human plasma and tissue alpha-tocopherol concentrations in response to supplementation with deuterated natural and synthetic vitamin E. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;67(4):669–684.
  10. Tominaga K et al. Protective effects of astaxanthin on skin deterioration. J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2017;61(1):33–39; Ito N et al. Nutrients. 2018;10(7):817.
  11. Kalen A, Appelkvist EL, Dallner G. Age-related changes in the lipid compositions of rat and human tissues. Lipids. 1989;24(7):579–584.
  12. UEMS (Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes) Public Health Section. uems.eu
  13. Geleijnse JM et al. Dietary intake of menaquinone is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study. J Nutr. 2004;134(11):3100–3105.
  14. Kuzminski AM et al. Effective treatment of cobalamin deficiency with oral cobalamin. Blood. 1998;92(4):1191–1198.
  15. Lietz G et al. SNPs upstream from the β-carotene 15,15’-monoxygenase gene influence provitamin A conversion efficiency. J Nutr. 2012;142(1):161S–165S.