Navamedic ASA traces its roots back to 1997, when the company co-founder and current CEO, Øyvind Brekke, while a student at the Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim (NTNU) developed a new and improved production method for glucosamine HCl. The company was founded a few years later in 2001 inIceland with the intention of becoming a production company of chitin and glucosamine. In 2002, the Norwegian holding company, which today holds 100% of the Icelandic subsidiary, was founded. Around the same time, the company entered into an agreement with Weifa AS, a leading Norwegian pharmaceutical company, to co-develop a glucosamine pharmaceutical product. This agreement enabled Navamedic to pursue a vertical integration strategy in the glucosamine value chain. In 2003, the company teamed up with Hydro Organics, a reputed contract research organisation, in order to refine and further develop the "Brekke-Method". In 2003, the Navamedic development project also qualified for "Skattefunn", a public tax refund programme for R&D projects.