Project description
Novel probiotic components to boost health benefits of infant formula
Human breast milk contains hundreds of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) that promote healthy gut microbiota development, resulting in decreased incidence of infections and chronic diseases. Available infant formulae contain a maximum of two HMOs, failing to provide breast milk health benefits. The Swiss company GNUbiotics has developed a novel prebiotic ingredient that mimics the HMOs profile and is obtained from the by-products of the farming industry. The company has produced a pilot batch of this proprietary compound and demonstrated its performance in preclinical studies. The EU-funded GNU200 project will enable the development of industrial capabilities and fulfilling the regulatory and marketing requirements.
Objective
Despite declining birth rates and the increasing number of campaigns to promote and support breastfeeding, the market for infant milk substitutes is growing. This is explained by the increasing employed female population, as well as inconvenience to breastfeed out of home. Scientific evidence indicates that breastfeeding protects against child infections and malocclusion, increases intelligence, and reduces overweight and diabetes’ probability. As an alternative to breastfeeding, parents choose to feed their babies with infant milk formulae that cannot replicate the effects and benefits of breast milk because fundamental components such as prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are not included. To compensate for this lack of HMOs, oligosaccharides such as GOS and FOS are included, even though they are poor mimics of HMOs with minimal evidence of efficacy. HMOs, the third most abundant component in breast milk, are molecules naturally tailored to the need of an infant which serve as prebiotics that help shape microbiota composition, protect infants from diseases, foster healthy gastrointestinal systems, reinforce fledgling immune function, and promote early brain development. Adding HMOs in formulae will substantially improve child benefits, mimicking breast milk composition (bringing formulae closer to nature).
We, GNUbiotics, are a start-up that has developed GNU 200 thought a process based on a by-product from the meat industry. This natural prebiotic composed of a mix with high diversity and concentration of oligosaccharides with proven efficacy. Our product protects against infections, restores the microbiota diversity after antibiotics treatment and prevents the onset of diet induced obesity similarly to HMOs found in breast milk. Hence, it represents a great business opportunity several steps ahead than alternatives.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibiotics
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesdietetics
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionobesity
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Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.2.4. - Sustainable and competitive bio-based industries and supporting the development of a European bioeconomy
- H2020-EU.3.2.1. - Sustainable agriculture and forestry
- H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
- H2020-EU.3.2.2. - Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
1066 EPALINGES
Switzerland
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.