Nestle's Reuteri demand is boon for BioGaia

BioGaia and Nestle signed an agreement in August 2008 for the use of its proprietary Lactobacillus reuteri strain employed in infant nutrition products globally (excluding Japan and Korea).

The first products hit the market last year, and Peter Rothschild, president of BioGaia, said: “We are pleased to note that Nestlé has now started the launch of infant formula with Reuteri in a number of countries. We have delivered significant volumes of Reuteri cultures to Nestlé in the first six months of 2010 and count on that this will continue throughout the rest of the year"​

BioGaia’s Lactobacillus reuteri is already present in infant formula products in Asia and Europe.

Positive six months​

Net sales for BioGaia amounted to SEK 124.4 million, an increase of SEK 12.0 million (11%) on the prior year period. With foreign exchange effects and early deliveries in the previous year, taken out of the equation, net sales growth would have been 27 per cent.
Operating profit was SEK 31.5 million, an improvement of SEK 1.6 million (5 per cent).

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"Despite negative currency exchange effects, we continue to generate a very strong result and cash flow, and the underlying trend continues to be very positive,”​ said Rothschild.

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Also in the last quarter BioGai signed an agreement with Asia United Medical in China for the sale of BioGaia Probiotic drops in China.

It also draws attention to several new studies on Reuteri: one published in the Journal of Perintology indicated that Reuteri reduced gastrointestinal symptoms and hospital stay in premature newborns; another presented at ESPGHAN in Istanbul showed that Lactobacillus reuteri Protectis reduced crying time in infants with colic.

After the end of the second quarter a third study on Reuteri was published in the​Journal of Pediatrics, which indicated that Lactobacillus reuteri Protectis was effective in infants with chronic constipation.