Nuritas, a biotechnology company that combines AI and peptidomics to discover bioactive peptides, announced it will build its North American headquarters in Connecticut.
Marie Bruckert, Growth Marketing and Business Strategy Director, Nuritas, told Nutraingredients-USA that following the company’s $45M Series B announcement at the end of 2021, the expansion to the US is the natural next step that will enable Nuritas to create a space for a multidisciplinary team to work side by side to help fulfill its mission of testing and producing natural, plant-based bioactive peptides that otherwise would remain untapped.
She added that the strategic expansion comes at a pivotal time for the company. Many of its existing operational partners are located in the US, which factored into the decision to relocate and further expand on collaborations.
Key collaborations
As the innovation partner for many US companies, Nuritas has partnered with leading food and pharma companies including Nestle, Mars, Sumitomo Corporation and Pharmavite. Now that the company is expanding near Yale University, founder and CEO, Nora Khaldi, PhD, will be relocating to the US to lead the company through this new growth phase. The new chapter includes partnerships with AdvanceCT and Yale Ventures, Yale’s recently announced initiative to support and expand innovation and entrepreneurship across the university and the New Haven region.
“Connecticut also offers a unique quality of life for our employees. AdvanceCT has been very helpful to us as we’ve considered the best location for our North American headquarters, by linking us to the local ecosystem and helping us to expand our physical operations in the best way possible,” said Khaldi.
“AdvanceCT works to engage, retain and recruit businesses and advance overall economic competitiveness in Connecticut. We are working closely with the team. [AdvanceCT CEO] Peter Denious and his team have been fantastic and have gone the extra mile - a true ambassador for Connecticut dynamism,” explained Bruckert. “Yale Ventures is a new initiative to support and expand innovation and entrepreneurship across the university and throughout the greater New Haven region.
Bruckert said that both will play an integral role in helping Nuritas choose the final location for its new headquarters and also help recruit the best talent across medicine, science, and engineering. “They are both connected in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, and have a pulse on all things in that space.”
AI platform
Nuritas has built an extensive peptide knowledge base using its proprietary AI and genomics platform Nπϕ (Nuritas Peptide Finder). The platform analyzes billions of untapped peptides in plants and natural food sources to predict and identify how they impact specific health areas, molecular pathways or receptors. These peptides are then validated in the lab and clinically tested, scaled and patented before Nuritas takes them to market. These branded molecules can be integrated into consumer products for topical or oral use.
Upcoming products
With the $45 million cash injection led by Chicago-based Cleveland Avenue, LLC last year, the company now has the means to expand and hire leadership positions in the coming months for the new office in business development, marketing, regulatory and science.
The expansion also comes ahead of the launch of key products in its pipeline. Bruckert told us that they have many exciting projects in the pipeline, with one available now for muscle health.
“At Nuritas, we’ve developed a sustainable, plant-based solution that can maintain muscle function for longer. It not only adds to the building blocks of muscle, but it can also repair the muscle—something the current, animal-based standard of care cannot do as well. Our plant-based solution is more efficacious, helping to make muscles younger and healthier. This is important across all aspects of life - from faster recovery after exercise for athletes, to maintaining lean muscle and strength during menopause.”
“We are also working to bring a peptide we’ve discovered to market which can improve glucose metabolism and reduce signs of pre-diabetes. This is critically important, as diabetes is one of the biggest epidemics in the world, with over 420 million diabetic patients globally,” added Bruckert.