Weekly Roundup: Evolva scores US$13m investment, Catalent expands softgel production in Canada and Brazil

03 Jul 2020 --- This week in nutrition news, Evolva set itself up to strengthen its resveratrol products’ position in the nutrition sector with an agreement to issue and subscribe convertible notes with Nice & Green. Catalent is equipped to expand its softgel production capabilities in Canada and Brazil. Meanwhile, Plasma Nutrition launched ioWhey Protein in Brazil with Brazilian supplement company Nutrata. In research developments, Lycored’s tomato extract, Lycoderm, showed an array of skincare benefits in a new clinical study while UN research warned of the link between fats from processed foods and ovarian cancer.

In brief: Business news
Swiss biotech company Evolva entered into a CHF 12 million (US$12.7 million) investment agreement with corporate financing company Nice & Green. Clare Panchoo, Global Vice President of Health Ingredients at Evolva, tells NutritionInsight in a video interview how the investment is part of the company’s “very strong growth plan” over the next few years. Oliver Walker, Evolva’s CEO, adds: “With life expectancy expanding globally, consumers become more aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and seek products with potential health benefits. We continue to invest in this area and will further grow our operations worldwide.”

Catalent, a US-based consumer health products provider, completed a US$3.2 million expansion program at its consumer health manufacturing facilities in Strathroy, Canada, and Sorocaba, Brazil. The expansion projects include new softgel encapsulation lines at each site, dedicated to Catalent’s Vegicaps plant-based capsule and CosmoPod twist-off capsule technologies. The company’s 110,000 square-foot Canadian facility in Strathroy, Ontario, and its 124,600 square-foot Brazilian facility in Sorocaba, Brazil, offer a broad range of integrated formulation, manufacturing, and packaging services to provide full-service turnkey solutions for the pharmaceutical, consumer health, and beauty industries.

Chr. Hansen reported a growth of 7 percent organic revenue growth in Q3, with an improved momentum compared to the same period of the previous year in segments of Health & Nutrition (12 percent), alongside Food Cultures & Enzymes (8 percent) and Natural Colors (1 percent). CEO Mauricio Graber notes having acquired HSO Health Care in Q3 and signed another agreement with UAS Laboratories represents “important investments in our microbial platform.” The company expects to continue extending its platform through a disciplined acquisition strategy.

DXIN and health and skincare manufacturer TCI have embarked on the co-development of a variety of premium functional foods.In brief: Collaborations and appointments
DXIN and health and skincare manufacturer TCI have embarked on the co-development of a variety of premium functional foods for beauty purposes. Their projected collaborative projects include an anti-aging Collagen Cubilose Drink, a fat-burning Vegetable Fruits and Vegetables Baking Powder, and an immunity-boosting Coniferous Cherry Probiotic Powder. Their efforts also encompass an energy-boosting Polygonatum sibiricum drink for men, a blueberry eye care jelly, which will be produced at the Sunrise Park in Pingtung, Taiwan, and a blood-enriching red ginseng drink.

French biomarine company Algaia appointed its co-founder Frédéric Faure as its new CEO for the entire group. Faure announced the accelerating and expanding of the company’s sustainability plan toward achieving a minimal carbon footprint by 2025. Algaia states it has further set a goal of using its multiple-extraction process to valorize up to 90 percent of the fresh seaweed biomass that it harvests by 2025. In contrast, only 15 percent to 35 percent of the raw material is actually used.

In brief: Launches and releases
With Brazil emerging as one of the fastest growing markets for nutritional supplements, Plasma Nutrition launched ioWhey Protein in Brazil with Nutrata. This makes the latter company the first international partner for io technology, also known as Ingredient Optimized, the ingredient processing technology behind ioWhey Protein. Nutrata Plasma ioWhey is now commercially available in Brazilian stores and online.

My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream now uses only non-GMO ingredients, while also replacing corn syrup with cane sugar as the sweetener across the entire mochi ice cream portfolio. Each ice cream scoop is wrapped in sweet rice mochi dough and has 100 calories. There are 110 calories for Banana Chocolate, Dulce de Leche, S’mores, Cookies & Cream, Double Chocolate and Mint Chocolate Chip flavors. The move responds to “increasing consumer demand for healthier and more natural options,” the company notes. The ingredient update will hit US shelves in the first quarter of 2021.

In brief: Research and studyLycored's skincare extract can improve visible beauty parameters.
Clinical research issued by Lycored showed that its plant-based, ingestible skincare extract Lycorerm can improve visible beauty parameters. As well as measuring skin carotenoid levels, the researchers assessed the effects of Lycoderm through photo image analysis, questionnaires and expert visual grading of facial wrinkles. At the end of the 16-week study, the Lycoderm group saw a 5.6 percent reduction in wrinkle severity, while those taking the placebo saw no significant effect. Eighty-one percent of test subjects reported Lycoderm supplementation made their skin feel smoother, and 91 percent noted improved skin hydration. Lycored regards these study findings as “visible evidence that beauty comes from within.”

Higher intakes and circulating levels of trans fatty acids from industrial processed foods and from deep-frying fat may be associated with a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. This is according to new results published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention by scientists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the UN World Health Organization. The researchers analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, which included 1,486 incident cases of ovarian cancer, to prospectively investigate the association between individual intake of fatty acids from various food sources and the risk of developing ovarian cancer. “If causal, eliminating industrial trans fatty acids could offer a straightforward public health action for reducing ovarian cancer,” the study abstract flags.

The University of Eastern Finland found consumption of dietary fiber from oat and rye brans supported the growth of beneficial gut microbiota, which consequently ameliorated cholesterol metabolism, enhanced gut barrier function and reduced hepatic inflammation. The study fed mice a high-fat Western diet for 17 weeks. Two groups were fed the same diet enriched with 10 percent of either oat or rye bran. The abundance of Lactobacillus genera was increased in the oat group, whereas Bifidobacterium genera was increased in the rye group. The findings suggest that both brans have the capacity to create a favorable environment in the gut by supporting the growth of beneficial microbes. 

By Anni Schleicher