Our Driver’s Friend Story

Tishcon Corporation started as a joint venture between lifelong friends, with a friendship starting in their early college years, which has proudly spanned over 60 years and is still as strong today. Mr. Raj Chopra and Mr. Vipin Patel had a dream of combining their passions: Mr. Chopra’s for creating dietary supplements; based on science and research, and Mr. Patel’s for business, thus Tishcon Corporation was born. It started in Westbury, NY, where it still proudly today.

Soon after Tishcon Corporation was formed, they became known as an industry leader in the creation of dietary supplements known as nutraceuticals today. With their in-depth knowledge of the industry and how to offer their dietary supplements in the most effective delivery systems (i.e. capsules and tablets) they never stopped researching cutting edge methods to stay at the forefront of the industry. A new delivery system was emerging known as Softgels. Recognizing the benefit of the softgel delivery system, Tishcon Corporation created Gel-Tec. Gel-Tec was one of the elite few companies able to manufacture softgels at the time. Today, Gel-Tec produces over a billion softgels annually and the numbers keep on growing.

Due to the explosion of business for Tishcon Corporation, more specifically Gel-Tec, due to the high demand of customers wanting dietary supplements in softgels, they needed to expand their manufacturing space for the tablets and capsules. They purchased over 200,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehouse space in Salisbury, MD. Having been long established as one of the pioneers in the natural products industry, this was a natural next step. It was here they expanded on their delivery systems to include chewable wafers and liquids as well.

Importance and Function of Coenzyme Q10:

Coenzyme Q10 is a life-sustaining vitamin-like nutrient found in every cell of the human body. The human body naturally produces CoQ10, and the mitochondria use it to produce needed energy for cell growth and maintenance. CoQ10 also functions as an antioxidant, which protects the body from damage caused by harmful free radicals.

Scientific Explanation and Necessity for QGel® CoQ10:

Q-Gel® was born out of the necessity to take life-sustaining CoQ10, which is produced in all of the cells in the body; that was first discovered in beef heart mitochondria by Dr. Fred Crane at the University of Wisconsin, and make it readily absorbed by cells within the human body. Its vital significance is the creation of ATP – the source of energy transport within every cell within the human body - as shown by Dr. Karl Folkers at Merck Pharmaceuticals. However, the CoQ10 molecule proved to be insoluble (unable to be dissolved in water) (just an aside - the human body is made up of an average of 65% water) and therefore presented a huge problem in gastrointestinal absorption. Thus, the millions of consumers’ worldwide ingesting standard CoQ10 tablets and capsules expecting the benefits of CoQ10 were simply excreting CoQ10 as human waste without any benefit!

Creation of QGel® CoQ10 and More:

Mr. Chopra recognized that Coenzyme Q10 was Essential for Energy Production and wondered how he could formulate this essential molecule in a delivery system which was hydrosoluble (able to dissolve in water) so it would be easily absorbed in the gut. A dear friend of Mr. Chopra’s, who was retired from the industry, came to his rescue. His name was Mr. Bob Goldman. Mr. Goldman figured out a combination of ingredients which caused the CoQ10 to successfully hydro solubilize (dissolve in water). A clinical study in human subjects proved a 300% higher absorption property of this delivery system named BIOSOLV®. After years of extensive research, cost and numerous resources Q-Gel® was born!

Mr. Chopra did not stop with QGel®, which is a liquid in a softgel delivery method. He went on to create additional delivery systems: such as LiQ-10® syrup (using the Optisolv® process to ensure adequate absorption in the body) which is a pineapple/orange flavor, where he donated thousands of bottles over several years to children who were diagnosed with mitochondrial disease and were unable to swallow pills. Also created was HydroQSorb®, which is the patented process powder form, found in our Driver’s Friend®, where studies have confirmed our patented HydroQSorb CoQ10 to be 800% more bioavailable than ordinary CoQ10.

The path to Driver’s Friend® started over 20 years ago with a dream Mr. Chopra had, which was to create a dietary supplement for tired drivers. He had formulated and created thousands of products for his customers over the years, but between all the products he formulated for his customers and with extensive market research, he did not see a product like Driver’s Friend® available to consumers. Mr. Chopra created this product and called it Driver’s Friend® but unfortunately, the original version did not take off as Mr. Chopra had hoped. However, Mr. Chopra never gave up on his dream. So with several reformulations over the years and many test batches done to perfect the taste and effectiveness, we are proudly re-launching Driver’s Friend® with its new formulation; which still contains caffeine, but with the addition of several B Vitamins and his patented HydroQSorb® CoQ10 (which did not even exist during the original formulation).