First up is Beo Therapeutics, a Swiss-based firm currently developing oral bacterial products that counteract the effects on health of a modern lifestyle and ageing. This includes novel microbial treatments for arthritis and chronic kidney disease.
The firm, based in Zurich, are also working on probiotic ingredients for the sports and recovery categories, using all-natural bacteria with no genetic engineering employed.
Beo Therapeutics is headed up by Dr Rikke Nielsen, CEO and Founder, who gave us her thoughts on where the industry is heading towards in the next few years.
Thanks for talking to NutraIngredients. Firstly, what was the thinking and motivation behind the creation of Beo Therapeutics?
Dr Rikke Nielsen (RN): “Beo Therapeutics was founded because we saw an opportunity in combining the best of research and development from the food-supplement and the pharmaceutical industry.
“The fast development of new products by the food-supplement industry and the pharmaceutical approach to understanding mode-of-action is a strong fusion.
“At the interface between food and pharma there are many opportunities to develop new and interesting products.”
Could you briefly describe some of the challenges you encountered in getting Beo Therapeutics up and running?
RN: “An anecdote of a challenge is that we were initially surprised to get questions about the excellent efficacy of our probiotics.
“It was a surprise that collaborators were concerned with the high level of efficacy and not the opposite.”
As one of our pioneers, could you outline your approach or ethos in treading a path or direction that no other firm has gone before? How do you weigh up the risks and benefits here?
RN: “Beo Therapeutics is built on three pillars that together minimises risk and maximises success in clinical studies and commercialisation.
“The first pillar is that we only work with bacteria that can be commercialised under food-regulation. That gives us multiple routes to market and increases market potential.
“The second pillar is that we work on bacteria with a clear mode of action. All the bacteria impact a human biological pathway of pharmaceutical relevance and that reduce clinical risk.
“The third pillar is that we work on conditions and diseases with recognised clinical endpoints. With clear and recognisable endpoints, the consumer can better understand the advantages of the products.”
Our pioneers this year focus very much on the toll modern lifestyle and ageing has on human health. Do you see this becoming more of a factor considering the rise in obesity and other chronic conditions?
RN: “With the obesity epidemic and the ageing populations, we see great opportunities in products that can help support metabolic health.
“A western lifestyle and ageing can perturb metabolic processes with consequences for our health.
“Our focus is to improve metabolic health by rebalancing metabolic processes. For that purpose, probiotics is a strong tool to support the body in excreting unhealthy metabolites.”
In the probiotic, prebiotic and microbiome space, what would you say is the next research area that the industry needs to keep its eye on?
RN: “The group of health-conscious consumers is growing along with the interest in health-optimisation products.
“The educated consumers in combination with an ageing population makes us believe that research in longevity and healthy ageing is a future growth area.”
Finally, what does confirmation that Biotherapeutics is one of our 2022 Probiota Pioneers do for the company and its profile in such an innovative, ever-changing industry?
“At Beo Therapeutics we are very proud to have been recognised as one of the 2022 Probiota Pioneers.
“As a new company we spend a lot of time and effort on building awareness about our offerings and here Probiota 2022 is a great opportunity to connect with new customers.”
About Probiota
Held on 28-30 March in Copenhagen, Probiota aims to bridge the gaps between cutting-edge science, business strategy, and key regulatory developments in the microbiome, probiotic and prebiotic markets.
The three-day event will bring together CEOs, academics, and top researchers for networking opportunities, in addition to interactive presentations and debates in the fields of probiotics, prebiotics and the microbiome.
For more information and to register, please click HERE.
