Myos Corp unlocks potential of egg yolks to build muscles in pet and sports nutrition

02 Nov 2023 --- Among a growing consumer demand for healthy aging and weight management products, nutrition company Myos Corp is expanding the reach of its signature ingredient, Fortetropin, beyond athletes and pets. Clinical trials underline the ingredient’s potential in muscle health, pointing to its support of muscle protein synthesis — a key component of maintaining and building muscle.

To develop the ingredient, Myos Corp sources raw, fertilized chicken egg yolk, which goes through a patented pasteurization process to retain the yolk’s bioactivity while eliminating harmful bacteria. The resulting product, “a light crumble,” can be consumed directly or mixed with food. 

Nutrition Insight sits down with Joe Mannello, the CEO of Myos Corp, which built the sports nutrition brand Yolked and the Myos pet brand on Fortetropin. 

“Muscle health is so important,” says Mannello, adding that there is “enough science” that people with lower muscle mass struggle more to fight diseases and maintain their health. 

Protein enhancer 
Commonly mistaken for a protein supplement, Mannello explains that Fortetropin is a proteo-lipid complex that contains a range of nutrients, such as amino acids and other bioactives. “In a 6.6 g dose — one serving for humans — there’s only around 2 g of protein.” 

“It’s a protein enhancer,” he underscores, “it takes the protein someone already consumes, either through whey protein or food, and helps that protein work better to build muscle.” 

Fortetropin is produced from pasteurized raw, fertilized chicken egg yolk (Image credit: Yolked).Although the exact mechanism of action for Fortetropin is yet to be clarified, clinical tests indicate that it promotes muscle growth and differentiation by lowering myostatin, a protein that limits muscle growth. 

“Myostatin is a serum or a protein in your body that puts a lid on muscle growth. We’ve shown in four studies that our product reduces myostatin, which helps grow muscle,” adds Mannello. 

The ingredient also helps to slow muscle degradation by downregulating the ubiquitin pathway — a process where proteins are marked for degradation. Moreover, it promotes muscle synthesis by upregulating the mTOR pathway, a regulator of metabolism in humans. 

Building muscles in athletes 
With the Yolked brand, Myos Corp mainly targets the sports nutrition market, focusing on athletes aiming to build stronger muscles. 

“‘Athlete’ is a broad term; it’s anyone who wants to play soccer on Sundays or just wants to be fit,” explains Mannello. “We do a lot with athletes in their 20s and 30s who want a natural brand and don’t want to venture into synthetic brands or drugs that may cause them harm. We’ve built a reputation of a natural product that enhances and improves their muscle.”  

“We’ve done studies in both dogs and humans regarding surgery or leg immobilization that show our product helps with recovery by reducing the atrophy you get when you have surgery or injury.” 

Muscle atrophy, or wasting, is caused by aging or injury. It impairs physical activity and quality of life while predisposing people to falls and fractures. 

In studies conducted on dogs after surgery and men after leg immobilization, myostatin levels increased in the placebo groups while levels stabilized in participants taking Fortetropin. 

Mannello explains that this indicates the product helped to maintain muscle mass usually lost after surgery and thus can support a faster and more robust recovery. 

Research found that supplementation with Fortetropin is effective for promoting muscle protein synthesis in older people.Clinical support  
Mannello explains Fortetropin is supported by several studies on humans and pets. Moreover, Myos aims to conduct clinical trials in 2024 for Fortetropin with people on weight loss drugs. “We aim to link up with weight loss clinics or metabolic doctors to test our product compared to a placebo.” 

Myos Corp recently re-released the results of a 2020 clinical trial on Fortetropin, which concluded that supplementation with the product is “effective for promoting muscle protein synthesis in older people.” 

Mannello highlights the relevancy of the study’s outcomes as the company is looking to target older people. “It was a great study for us because it included 60- to 75-year-old men and women. It showed that even if they did not exercise, their muscle protein synthesis increased by 18% in 21 days.”

“When you get arthritis, people take joint supplements. While these are effective, they neglect the muscles, the quadricep muscles around those joints. If you’re not moving because of pain from arthritis, those muscles atrophy.”

He underscores: “Our product is good as a prevention, ensuring you’re in better shape to deal with all the issues we get as we age. We are making an active push on prevention in both animal and human health.” 

Moreover, Mannello emphasizes that Fortetropin can help people remain active as they age, as this helps maintain muscle mass. 

“We tend to wait until we have an issue, but it’s much better to tackle it before you have an issue,” he highlights. “To make it part of your lifestyle and stay in shape, you need the proper diet and supplements can help.” 

Nutrition for senior dogs and cats   
However, as the study was first released during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company did not promote it extensively then. “We had to go into the world of sarcopenia,” details Mannello. This is a loss of muscle and strength that may occur when someone gets older. However, he notes that the area “was closed off because people weren’t going to see their doctor.”

Instead, Mannello details that the company developed a pet nutrition brand to leverage promising studies conducted on dogs. Myos targets dogs and cats, while the company recently launched a similar product for horses. 

In pet nutrition, much of the business is for older, arthritic dogs.“The pet brand has taken off,” shares Mannello. “Much of our business is for older, arthritic dogs, and we’ve seen incredible results.”

In a study at Kansas State University, Fortetropin resulted in improved mobility of geriatric and senior dogs suffering from osteoarthritis and age-related muscle atrophy or sarcopenia. 

“Our product showed statistical significance that these dogs could move better and be more mobile. Part of it is those quadricep muscles we’re helping make stronger, so dogs want to move more.” 

He adds that the company has also received testimonials from vets using the product with older dogs and cats. 

Proliferation of weight loss drugs 
Mannello explains that if people lose weight slowly, they will mainly lose fat. However, when losing weight quickly, such as through weight loss drugs, people lose “fat and muscle.” The use of such weight loss drugs is increasing globally. 

“When losing muscles, a person’s lean body mass is not good, which is unhealthy,” he adds. “You want to keep your muscles strong while losing weight.”

He sees an opportunity for Yolked products to support people on these medications who experience muscle loss from losing weight fast. “Our product is low in calories, at 60 calories per serving. If people take it while losing weight, it will help them keep muscle mass and even increase muscle protein synthesis.” 

Moreover, he notes that the product can help the metabolism to burn faster. 

By Jolanda van Hal