DuPont microbiome venture inks third partnership on probiotics

21 Jun 2018 --- A new collaboration with Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) Micalis-MGP will concentrate on DuPont’s probiotic strains and the understanding of these microbes’ mechanism of action on human health. The move is hoped to continue DuPonts Microbiome Venture capacity building – through strategic partnerships – in microbiome innovation.

DuPont established the Microbiome Venture to accelerate microbiome science-based solution development through a combination of selected strategic partnerships with microbiome science leaders and internal investments, they explain.

Building upon the recently announced partnership with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies (TFTAK) in March 2018, the DuPont Nutrition & Health Microbiome Venture continues to strengthen its capabilities in announcing the third strategic research and development partnership. 

The newly forged relationship with INRA, through both the Micalis Institute and MetaGenoPolis, a pre-industrial demonstrator, will be focused on deciphering the molecular mechanisms of action of DuPont’s probiotic strains through a functional metagenomics approach. 

“We are thrilled to partner with INRA MetaGenoPolis and Micalis Institute,” says Sebastien Guery, Microbiome Venture Leader. “Following our partnerships with APC Cork to discover new strains for maternal and infant health and with TFTAK in Tallinn, Estonia, to understand the 'culturability' of next-generation probiotics, we are nicely complementing our set of capabilities by adding the understanding of the DuPont Danisco probiotics’ mechanisms of action on human health at a molecular level.”

INRA's capabilities to provide molecular-level knowledge
INRA has developed and validated a high-throughput screening (HTS) platform to test the effect of large DNA fragment in genomic or metagenomic libraries on intestinal epithelial cell lines modified with reporter gene technology. This allows the screening of genomic and metagenomic clones on various reporter systems targeting pathways involved in homeostasis, metabolism, immune control as well as enteroendocrine cell activation.

INRA, through its Micalis Institute and metagenomics platforms at MetaGenoPolis, collaborates with many leaders in the field, worldwide, contributing its know-how and tools to discoveries and breakthrough of high impact, the company described. INRA is the major European actor in the field of gut microbiota in terms of publications, they add.

DuPont has a long-standing innovation relationship with INRA that began as early as 1987 when DuPont was the first company to sponsor INRA Ph.D. theses. Building on this collaboration, this new partnership will be part of the Qualiment network, which has been awarded the “Carnot Institute: label of excellence." 

Qualiment is a network of research institutes and universities created to provide the necessary scientific and technological resources to support companies in developing new food products with higher sensory and nutritional qualities and for a sustainable alimentation. 

Established in late 2017, the Microbiome Venture is an entrepreneurial team drawing on DuPont capabilities, including R&D, manufacturing, regulatory, legal and marketing. The Microbiome Venture investment hopes to complement DuPont’s existing product portfolio, especially in the areas of probiotics and prebiotics, including human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs.)