Chr. Hansen and Glycom settle HMO patent disputes inherited from Jennewein acquisition

18 Aug 2021 --- Chr. Hansen has reached a settlement with Glycom over several human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) production patent disputes. These include litigations in Denmark inherited from Chr. Hansen’s acquisition of Jennewein Biotechnologie.

As part of the settlement, Chr. Hansen and Glycom have agreed on royalty-bearing patent licenses. The parties have agreed to disclose no further details of the settlement agreement and declined to comment to NutritionInsight.

Battle for patents 
Chr. Hansen inherited the disputes when it acquired Jennewein Biotechnologie last fall. The settlement comes a few months after Chr. Hansen withdrew litigation against Nestlé in a patent infringement dispute.

Jennewein Biotechnologie had filed the patent infringement suit against Nestlé Nutrition, asserting that its infant formula Beba Supreme contained two specific HMOs produced by a protected process. Nestlé also withdrew the pending oppositions against the disputed patent rights. 

Industry is looking to HMO innovation to address immunity and gut health, in addition to infant nutrition.Continuing technologies 
The recent settlement with Glycom makes it possible for the companies to use their respective technologies to bring microbiome-beneficial HMOs into more products in the near future to the benefit of consumers.

Chr. Hansen intends to maintain and expand the acquired portfolio of intellectual property rights covering HMOs and the production hereof and will keep enforcing such intellectual property rights.

Chr. Hansen has previously indicated that the market for HMOs holds a wealth of potential, spotlighting 10 percent organic sales growth in the Asia Pacific market comparing Q2 2020/2021 with Q2 2019/2020.

DSM, which acquired Glycom to grow its HMO portfolio last year, has also highlighted the ingredient’s significant growth opportunities. In January, DSM revealed that the company was focusing on new ways to personalize infant formula with specific HMO compositions.

NutritionInsight previously spoke with Jennewein Biotechnologie’s Christian Metzmacher in a video interview, who highlighted the company’s “specific fermentation process” to produce HMOs. He also underscored huge demand, noting the company had increased production capacity by 300 within the past 18 months. 

Growth in HMOs
HMOs are showing mounting potential in health and wellness, beyond applications in infant nutrition. In July, US-based nutrition start-up Layer Origin Nutrition launched seven supplements containing HMOs for adults. The company predicts this “star” ingredient will see major growth in the years ahead due to its fast and direct mechanism of action on conditions such as IBS. 

Regulatory pathways continue to open up for HMO-driven companies.  In July, Biotech company Inbiose applied for Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for four of its HMOs. The company said at the time it would also file for Novel Food approval of its HMOs by the European Commission and prepare for a global regulatory roll-out. 

By Missy Green