The licensing agreement is set to apply to countries such as France and Czechia as well as the Asia and the Americas territories and commercialises a strain, which addresses vaginal health, specifically recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.
While its oral formulation is now licensed to Lallemand Health Solutions, Proge Farm also proposes L. plantarum P17630 (Proge 17630) as the active ingredient of a remedy for vaginal use in softgel capsules.
“Women’s health is gaining more importance in the probiotics market as consumers are increasingly looking for natural ways to take care of their intimate health,” says Isabelle Champié, vice-president sales and marketing at Lallemand Health Solutions.
“Furthermore, with this specific strain, it will be even easier to do so with one daily dose taken orally (5bn Colony Forming Units per day (CFU/day).”
Probiotics for women’s health
According to Lumina Intelligence, women are turning to probiotics as a natural alternative to conventional solutions, especially where reoccurring pains and infections occur, such as those linked to vaginal health.
Further analysis of the 252 probiotic products for women that included supplements, juices and cosmetics in 20 researched countries, found L. Acidophilus, L. Rhamnosus and L. Plantarum amongst the top ten most popular species.
Along with Lallemand, firms that work with various strains of L. Plantarum include Sweden-based Probi, DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences and AB biotics.
L. plantarum P17630 (Proge 17630), is isolated from a healthy vaginal flora, playing a role in supporting and maintaining an equilibrium of a normal vaginal microflora.
The strain has a number of benefits to vaginal health, from helping maintain proper vaginal balance to being used in combination with conventional treatments for candidiasis (anti-fungal).
As a result, women saw an improvement in candidiasis with a decrease in symptoms including less swelling, redness, burning or itching. The strain can also help reduce the risk of recurrence of candidiasis.
Proge Farm products
Founded in Italy in 1992, Proge Farm develops selected probiotic strains for the gastrointestinal, gynaecological and dermatological therapeutic areas.
The firm currently produces such products as Endolac, a probiotic remedy containing L. acidophilus P-18806, Lactobacillus delbrueckii P-18805 and Streptococcus thermophilus P-18807, for intestinal complaints such as diarrhoea, nonspecific enteritis and colitis.
“We are proud of this significant licensing commercialisation agreement with Lallemand Health Solutions,” adds Giancarla Dondi, owner and chief executive officer at Proge Farm.
“They will have the ability to broadly disseminate our strain L. plantarum P17630 (Proge 17630); meaning more women will benefit from its compelling effects.”
