Jacquemaire launches baby probiotic formula, eyeing Chinese market

23 Nov 2021 --- Jacquemaire has launched its Baby Probiotic after revealing it has upgraded the product’s formula, including its raw materials and packaging. This comes as the company marks 140 years since its founding in France.

The prebiotics-fortified solution was formulated to enhance immunity, reduce allergic symptoms and promote the growth and reproduction of probiotics in the intestinal tract.

While the original formula had two bacteria, the upgrade has five. This includes Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, Bifidobacterium lactis HN019, Bifidobacterium animalis Bb-12, Bifidobacterium breve M-16V and Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716.

These strains can contribute to balancing gut microbes, help infants dealing with constipation and diarrhea, reduce gastrointestinal infections and boost immunity, according to the company.

Chinese market
Last year, the company entered the Chinese market, highlighting its “European century-old special research.”

It had partnered with Chinese actor Dong Xuan, as the brand spokesperson.

China has been flagged for its potential, with Chr. Hansen observing 10% organic sales growth in the Asia-Pacific market for 2020-2021 Q2, compared to the same period, the previous year.

Immunity has seen a growing interest in the infant nutrition space.

In October, China confirmed the safety of six manufacturing strains to produce human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), thus opening up the regulatory pathway. DSM described the move as a “critical milestone” in the journey to providing products such as infant formula to China.

Though there were concerns that COVID-19 would provide setbacks to the HMO approval process, there are still more stages, including a technical review by the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment (CFSA), leading to questions and data requests, known as a gap analysis.

The initial stages are estimated to take 12 to 24 months, depending on the number and nature of data requests. The final step is infant formula registration, which could take 18 to 24 months.

Investments in infant formula sector
Developments across the infant nutrition space are moving at an accelerated pace. Last week, Abbott launched its “closest formula to breast milk” in the US, with Similar 360 Total Care.

US-based start-up Helaina also announced it had raised US$20 million in series A funding, which it plans to use to deliver the first humanized infant formula using precision fermentation.

Biomilq has also focused on developing mammary cell-cultured human breast milk, for which it received an investment to the tune of US$3.5 million last year.

Edited by Andria Kades

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