Lallemand Health Solutions and Apsen partner to bring first psychobiotic to stressed Brazilians

15 Oct 2020 --- Apsen Farmacêutica has brought the first psychobiotic for the gut-brain axis (GBA) with approved health claims to the Brazilian market in partnership with Lallemand Health Solutions.

Two new products, Probid and Probians, produced by Lallemand Health Solutions, contain Cerebiome, the company’s documented probiotic combination of Lactobacillus helveticus Rosell-52 and Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175.

The launch comes as the COVID-19 pandemic is causing more people to experience emotional and mental anxiety as stress levels rise. 

“During the last few months, [concerns for mental health] have only been increasing. Cerebiome represents a new, natural, effective alternative to help reduce anxiety,” Lucie Lingrand, product manager and specialist of the GBA at Lallemand Health Solutions, tells NutritionInsight.

She highlights that Cerebiome can help moderate psychological and physiological responses to occasional stress by a variety of mechanisms, including the modulation of: 

• Neurotransmitter synthesis, such as serotonin-tryptophan.
• The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. 
• The vagus nerve.

Informing the consumer
Lingrand spoke with NutritionInsight last year about consumer awareness of the GBA. She flagged that because health-conscious consumers are increasingly conducting their own research, they must be educated in the right direction and provided with reliable sources of information. 

Psychobiotics refers to live bacteria that may offer mental health benefits by affecting the gut microbiota. Cue ANVISA, the regulatory agency for health products in Brazil. “The Brazilian health authorities are asking for strong regulatory dossiers in order for a probiotic to be able to claim specific health benefits,” Lingrand notes.

In light of Cerebiome being backed by five clinical studies and nine preclinical studies that demonstrated “significant effects” on the GBA, ANVISA approved claims that Probid and Probians “may contribute to the reduction of feelings of anxiety in healthy individuals.” 

The launch also gained claims that it “may contribute to the reduction of gastrointestinal complications, such as abdominal pain and nausea/vomit brought on by light-to-moderate stress in healthy individuals.” This makes it Brazil’s first and only psychobiotic with an approved health claim, according to Apsen.

Lingrand points out that Cerebiome is already sold in many European countries, as well as in the US, Australia and China. 

In Canada, Cerebiome, previously known as Probio’Stick, received strong health claims by the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) for Canadian health products regulation. 

By Anni Schleicher, with additional reporting by Kristiana Lalou