Phospholipid compositions and their preparation

1. A composition comprising a mixture of phospholipid compounds of formula (I):

wherein:

R 1 and R 2 are each independently selected from a fatty acid moiety of formula —COC n H m , a fatty acid moiety of formula —CH 2 C n H m , and —H, wherein n is from 11 to 22 and for any value of n, m=2n+1;

R 1 and R 2 include omega-3 fatty acid moieties, such that at least 30% by weight of the phospholipid compounds is composed of omega-3 fatty acid moieties;

at least 90% by weight of total omega-3 fatty acid moieties are at position R 2 ;

R 1 and R 2 are not both H in a phospholipid compound, and R 1 or R 2 is H in less than 3% by weight of the compounds of formula (I);

R 3 is selected from —H, a choline moiety, an ethanolamine moiety, a N-acetylethanolamine moiety, an inositol moiety, and a serine moiety; and

R 3 is a choline moiety in at least 85% by number of the compounds of formula (I), and wherein the composition also has one three or more of the following properties:

(a) at least 85% by weight of the composition consists of phospholipid compounds of formula (I);

(b) the weight ratio of C16:0/C14:0 fatty acid moieties in the mixture is between 10:1 and 18:1 and/or the weight ratio of C18:4 n-3/C18:3 n-3 fatty acid moieties is between 1:1 and 3:2;

(c) the composition includes less than 300 μg astaxanthins per gram of phospholipid;

(d) the composition comprises less than 0.01% by weight trimethylamine N-oxide;

(e) the composition comprises less than 0.01% by weight homarine;

(f) the composition includes less than 5% by weight water;

(g) the composition has less than about 0.03% by weight PUFA polymers

(h) the mixture includes both phospholipids where R 1 is a fatty acid moiety of formula —COC n H m and phospholipids where R 1 is a fatty acid moiety of formula —CH 2 C n H m ;

(i) the mixture includes both phospholipids where R 1 is an omega-3 fatty acid moiety and phospholipids where R 2 is an omega-3 fatty acid moiety;

(j) the composition includes less than 5% by weight sphingomyelin;

(k) the composition is free from chloroform and hexane; and/or

(l) less than 0.9% by weight of phospholipids in the composition is formed of compounds where R 1 or R 2 is —H, or more than 1.1% by weight of phospholipids in the composition is formed of compounds where R 1 or R 2 is —H.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein less than 0.9% by weight of phospholipids in the composition is formed of compounds where R 1 or R 2 is —H.

3. The composition of claim 1 , having at least properties (h) and (i).

4. The composition of claim 3 , having at least properties (a), (c), (d), (e), (g) and (j).

5. The composition of claim 4 , having at least properties (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (g) and (j).

6. The composition of claim 3 , having at least properties (a), (c), (d), (e), (f), (h), (j), and (k).

7. The composition of claim 6 , having properties (a), (b) (c), (d), (e), (f), (h), (j), and (k), and wherein: with reference to property (h) fatty acid moieties of formula —CH 2 C n C m are either saturated or mono-unsaturated, and not polyunsaturated; the compounds of formula (I) include C16:0, C14:0, C18:4 n-3 and C18:3 n-3 fatty acid moieties at R 1 and/or R 2 ; the amount of water is less than 2% by weight; the composition has less than 1% by weight free fatty acids; the composition has less than 0.005% by weight trimethylamine; the composition is free from canthaxanthin and flavonoid; and, optionally, wherein the phospholipids of formula (I) include EPA and DHA moieties in a molar ratio (EPA:DHA) from 1.8:1 to 2.2:1.

8. A composition comprising (1) a pharmaceutically-acceptable solvent and (2) a mixture of phospholipid compounds of formula (I), as defined in claim 1 , and further having three or more of properties (b) to (I) as defined in claim 1 , wherein the phospholipid compounds of formula (I) are dissolved, suspended or emulsified in the pharmaceutically-acceptable solvent, and wherein the composition is liquid when at 20° C.