Next-generation gut-health solutions: Nestlé partners with CMI to boost microbiome research

25 Nov 2019 --- Nestlé is partnering with the University of California San Diego Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) to reinforce research into the microbiome’s impact on human health. Moreover, the collaboration aims to accelerate the development of innovative nutritional solutions promoting health and wellbeing. The partnership builds on the CMI’s microbiome expertise which complements Nestlé’s research capabilities on the connection between nutrition and the gut microbiome.

“The microbiome is an important research area for us,” says Isabelle Bureau-Franz, Head of Nestlé Research. “In addition to the continuous development of our products, we are investing in long-term research enabling us to provide the next generation of personalized nutritional solutions adapted to the individual’s microbiome.”

The company notes that the partnership with CMI opens new opportunities for accelerating microbiome discoveries. This is through joint research programs and access to scientific and technological capabilities complementing those already existing within the Nestlé R&D network. The partnership will also provide Nestlé the opportunity to work with young talents in the frame of CMI’s Ph.D. student and postdoctoral programs.

“The main aim of the collaboration is to accelerate microbiome research and to advance the understanding of the connection between nutrition and gut microbiota. We have a large network of scientific collaborations across a number of focus areas. The partnership with CMI is reinforcing our capabilities in microbiome research,” a Nestlé spokesperson tells NutritionInsight.

The microbiome is the vast community of microbes such as bacteria, fungi and viruses that live on and inside the body. An important part of the microbiome is located in the gut where it is essential to digesting the food we eat, the immune system and other aspects of human health.

The partnership with CMI opens new opportunities for accelerating microbiome discoveries.Over many years, Nestlé has studied the gut microbiome and its evolving composition throughout different life stages, from birth to aging, in humans and pets. This research has been translated into products that help maintain healthy digestion and wellbeing for different populations. The current portfolio includes products containing probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics to improve digestion.

Nestlé has also researched Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs), a major component of breastmilk that has been shown to influence early life microbiome establishment and development of the immune system. The findings were leveraged to launch new infant formulas that include HMOs.

Nestlé’s microbiome boosting launches
The company has previously explored the potential of the microbiome and launched several probiotic solutions for both humans and pets. This June, Nestlé launched a probiotic solution to help lactating mothers reduce the risk of breast pain and mastitis – a painful inflammatory condition of the breast – during breastfeeding. MATERNA Opti-Lac is a food supplement that contains a patented probiotic strain L. fermentum LC40, naturally found in the breastmilk of healthy mums to support breast health.

Nestlé’s pet care arm, Nestlé Purina also launched a line of supplements aimed at improving anxious behaviors in dogs by ameliorating their digestive issues. The Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Supplements Calming Care range contains the bifidobacterium longum (BL999) probiotic strain, which Nestlé Purina researchers found to be beneficial for canine gut health. 

Recently, the company also acquired Persona, a personalized vitamin business founded in 2017. The move is a bid to enter the expanding personalized nutrition space which is driving innovation in the nutrition industry. Meanwhile, the results of a “breakthrough” study in the diet-based treatment of Crohn’s disease led to Nestlé Health Science’s mobile app for patients, coined ModuLife, which incorporates this knowledge into therapeutic practice. Researchers found that combining the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED) with a powdered protein that is often used as the sole nutrition source during the active phase of the disease, Modulen, led to 80 percent of patients reaching remission.

By Kristiana Lalou

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