EIC Accelerator Grant: Health starts in the gut
NutriLeads develops RG-I based ingredients for supplements and functional food products. These ingredients are incorporated into the products of functional food, beverage and supplement companies that bring them to consumers with proven health benefits. Think of Becel Pro-Activ, a margarine from Unilever, which lowers cholesterol because it contains plant-based sterols ingredients or Symflora® from Vitakruid containing a beneficial mixture of pro and prebiotic ingredients.
With a healthy diet you don't treat diseases, but you try to prevent them. That idea is central to NutriLeads. This supplements & food ingredients start-up from Wageningen developed ingredients that have a positive effect on our health via the gut microbiome. And that is necessary, because we are all eating less and less healthily. NutriLeads has already received an EIC Accelerator Grant in 2018. The 2.5 million euros was used for clinical research and for major advances. 'An essential investment that led to our further growth at the time.'
COO Jan Jongsma
Social importance
Founder Ruud Albers previously outlined the social importance of NutriLeads. 'We eat less healthily than we used to, with a stronger focus on taste and convenience. As a result, we miss out some of the key benefits of a balanced diet, and our microbiome doesn’t always receive the ideal support. If we could add healthy aspects to products that people can incorporate in their daily routine, you can partially solve that problem. This is true for healthy people, but even more so for patients with a weakened immune system. They often experience one infectious complication after the other. These are sometimes trivial infections, but it leads them to eat less and end up in a negative spiral. As a result, the treatment takes much longer. We can contribute to recovery by supporting their immune system and gut microbiome health with specific ingredients that have an active effect via the gut.'
CEO Joana Carneiro-Wakefield adds: “the fact that we found a compound in fruits and vegetables, that our bodies cannot completely unlock, with such a superior health impact – namely, reducing the impact on symptoms and time for recovery from common-colds and consistent improvement of the gut microbiome in every type of gut - is amazing. Nevertheless, commercialization, meaning bringing the ingredient to consumers to and create real impact, is the most challenging and determining step of the whole journey of innovation. Especially when the market is highly competitive, consumers see an immense offering and cannot fully understand the difference between the different ingredient benefits. This is on top of navigating several regulatory roadmaps.”
'Very honourable'
The EIC Grant in 2018 was a big step forward in the early development of the company for NutriLeads. Although Jan himself was not yet on board at the time, he has heard a lot about those fascinating first years. 'It is well known that the process to obtain such an EIC Grant is very selective and competitive. The chance of success was only a few percent. If you are successful in the application, it is very honorable and special. 'The grant meant a promising future for NutriLeads. Jan: 'Our research continued and eventually we scaled up the new product commercially in 2020. In 2021, FDA approval was received. As a result, we were able to launch our commercial product Benicaros on the US market."
Like a duck to water in Wageningen
NutriLeads has felt like a duck to water in the ecosystem around Wageningen for years. This was already the case at the time of the EIC Grant and it has not changed today. 'For many years, we have been working closely with various departments of WUR, especially Food Chemistry and the Department of Cell Biology and Immunology, in order to gain an even better understanding of our active ingredient,' says Jan. 'Many of our employees also have a background at WUR. We all make full use of the Wageningen network. We will continue to do so and it will continue to strengthen our growth.'