The Future of Nutrition: Inspiring and informing the nutraceutical industry of tomorrow

Introducing the Vitafoods Europe Future of Nutrition Summit

The Future of Nutrition Summit is coming to Vitafoods Europe, on May 8 2023! The summit has been running successfully at Food ingredients Europe, our specialised event for the food and beverage ingredient industry This year, we will bring this future-focused summit to the Vitafoods audience with a nutraceutical focus The oneday, in-person summit takes place the day before the Vitafoods Europe exhibition opens, and offers a snapshot of what the health and nutrition industry could look like in five or more years’ time.

Independent futurist thinkers from the nutraceutical industry and beyond will share their insights into how the health and nutrition landscape is evolving. In addition to cutting-edge content, there will be ample opportunities for peer-to-peer networking with C-suite experts from diverse disciplines and industries, including food science, innovation, sustainability, retail, nutrition, and public health as well as startups, scale-ups, and investors.

Discussions will focus on the future of personalised nutrition, the digitalisation of health, new technologies for health management, and emerging sustainable solutions across the value chain.

Head of content Kinga Swiderska said: “It has been fascinating to discover during our research and innovation scouting the range and scope of solutions being developed for a more holistic and informed approach to the future of health. What we found was a level of combined innovation, analysis, and concern for sustainability.

“At the Summit, our audience will hear from experts from companies such as Danone, Bayer, and Unilever as well as research institutes like TNO on the most promising technologies and disruptive ideas.

“Eagle Genomics will explore the extensive interactions between agricultural practices, food production, nutritious diets, human-gut microbiomes, and data science to discover natural and sustainable solutions for R&D, encompassing the all-important categories of personalised nutrition and therapeutic foods.”

In this e-magazine, the Vitafoods Insights team brings you a selection of interviews with Future of Nutrition Summit speakers and articles that give a glimpse into where the nutraceutical industry is heading.

To book your place at the Future of Nutrition Summit, click here

Strategic thinking critical to building sustainable future

Having a strategic vision in place is critical for any company looking to perform sustainably but translating current trends into actionable plans is not always easy At the Future of Nutrition Summit at Vitafoods Europe, Agathe Danjou, global evolution and disruption strategy director at Danone Specialized Nutrition, will highlight some of the macro forces impacting the world of food and healthcare, and help industry identify pathways towards sustained growth

By Anthony Fletcher

Businesses capable of anticipating disruptive change are usually better placed to plan for the future. This means identifying and understanding the underlying macro trends that are shaking up the sector, and putting in place plans to mitigate or take advantage of a changing world.

“At Danone Specialized Nutrition, we take a future back approach to craft what we call a lighthouse, in order to give us a direction to build roadmaps,” explains Danjou. “Key questions we ask ourselves include: What value do we want to bring to society and to people, which will generate growth? Why is it relevant for our business to take this direction? And what could we do differently from the competition that will sustain or bring a competitive edge?”

Disrupting before being disrupted

To keep ahead of the curve, Danjou notes that it is critical for companies to deeply understand their business, as well as the competitive environment beyond their direct competitors. In practice, this means acknowledging key drivers of demand, and understanding what makes their business model successful.

“This is critical to maximise value today, but also to ensure that your business is future fit,” says Danjou. “In addition to identifying current drivers, it is important to build possible scenarios. This means examining the ‘what ifs’ - putting yourself in the mindset of a crisis or challenger, which will make you think differently about solutions and value creation.”

For Danjou, too many businesses have fallen by the wayside, precisely because they failed to anticipate and take action. They might have seen macro forces or technology shifts coming, but didn’t change in time. “It is hard to transition when your company or segment is in the ‘cash cow matrix’,” she acknowledges.

That said, there are companies that have successfully evolved their business model. “These include Nike, with direct-to-consumer sales reaching 37% of their revenue, or Lego, which has reinvented itself through brand purpose, communities, and digital transformation. Those two companies have invested and kept consistency towards their goals over time.”

Getting ready for the future

At the Future of Nutrition Summit, Danjou intends to underline her belief that every business can access trends and take action.

“What matters is curating and translating trends into business applications that are suitable in your playground,” she says. “It is also key to achieve a common understanding within your company of the forces in place. I strongly believe that constantly monitoring, and internalising this curation is a key factor to success, together with synchronizing your strategic planning processes.”

Danjou hopes that attendees to her presentation will feel a sense of urgency to act, and be convinced that the power of fact-based data and trends, common understanding and collective intelligence can lead to strategic directions for growth.

“There’s a lot happening in the nutrition space, with an acceleration of biotech solutions that offer opportunities to solve major world issues such as access to food or malnutrition. At the Summit, I expect to learn from others, and am looking forward to meeting industries and startups that are facing common challenges. I’m keen to learn about the solutions they have put in place, and think about possible applications or partnerships.”

Opportunities in personalised nutritional health improvement

By Anthony Fletcher

Nutrition is becoming ever-more personal. This trend is helping consumers to tailor their diets to their specific needs based on their own health data, and food companies to better support customers to make healthy choices. But how can cutting-edge research be more effectively translated into useful market applications?

Dr Suzan Wopereis, principal scientist at the Dutch applied research organisation, TNO, will explore this at the Future of Nutrition Summit at Vitafoods Europe.

Wopereis’ work focuses on quantifying the impact of lifestyle on health. One reason for this is that the field of personalised nutrition is close to her heart.

“One of the reasons I got so involved in this issue is because while I was doing my PhD, my father was diagnosed with a vascular disease,” she explains. “His doctor advised him to go outside, to start exercising and to eat better.”

What struck Wopereis was the impact of simple lifestyle changes. A daily walk and healthy eating enabled her dad to get much better.

“I was amazed at how the body is just so resilient,” she says. “Simple changes made the difference, and this is what really got me interested in this topic of personalised nutrition.”

The journey towards personalised nutrition

For Wopereis, a key issue is how to reach people like her dad, who might not read up on the latest research, but could benefit hugely from changing their behaviour. This is where data comes in.

“Personalised nutrition starts with the collection of individual personal data,” she says. “Based on advanced interpretation of these data, a personalised service or product can be offered. I’m a scientist, so ideally, I would like to base such offerings on evidence-based knowledge and technology.”

Recent technological advances have begun to make this possible. Consumers are increasingly collecting data about themselves – via wearables and other digital tools – and increasingly such platforms can provide accurate and detailed feedback across a range of parameters.

This technological revolution comes at a time when consumers are increasingly aware that diet plays a critical role in overall wellbeing and health. This was reinforced during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people who were obese or in poor health were at higher risk of developing severe forms of the disease.

“A final trend feeding into this personalised nutrition arena is scientific agreement that not every diet fits every person,” says Wopereis. “One diet might be better than another for you personally. There is a growing consensus that environment and lifestyle habits, including diet, make us vulnerable to chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

Dr Suzan Wopereis principal scientist at the Dutch applied research organisation, TNO

Debating the future of nutrition

A key question therefore is how to bring this innovation, scientific understanding, and consumer awareness into applications and products. In her presentation at the Future of Nutrition Summit, Wopereis aims to show how the food and nutrition sector can tap into these trends, and be part of the personalised nutrition future.

“Building ecosystems of multiple companies in the food chain working together on personalised nutrition is a prerequisite,” she says. “TNO already established such consortia, through for example, public private partnerships. These have helped us to go from science to market applications. As applied research organisation, I think we can show companies how to make this step, and support them making it.”

At the Summit, Wopereis is looking forward to having discussions with multiple stakeholders, to building up new networks, and accelerating innovations in the personalised nutrition arena. “This is a complex field, with multiple disciplines coming together,” she says. “To be successful will take a lot of effort.”

For those at the forefront of the personalised nutrition revolution however, the rewards could be significant.

Register here

to attend the Future of Nutrition Summit and the Vitafoods Europe Conference

Sponsored Content

Precision nutrition is the fourth pillar in cancer care, says Faeth Therapeutics

Food is fuel for the body, but it also feeds cancer One precision nutrition startup is using amino acid-adjusted meal plans (combined with drugs) to starve tumours of the nutrients they need and stop cancer growth

By Niamh Michail

Faeth Therapeutics’ CEO and co-founder, Anand Parikh, describes himself as a drug developer who puts food first. He previously worked at Virta Health, a US personalised nutrition company that uses ketogenic diet plans to treat and reverse type 2 diabetes.

“In my mind, having seen this across other diseases such as type 2 diabetes, it is not a question of if but when precision nutrition revolutionises cancer and many other diseases as well,” Parikh said.

Anand Parikh CEO and co-founder Faeth Therapeutics

Faeth Therapeutics counts some of the world’s top cancer scientists among its co-founders and current team members: Drs Lew Cantley, Oliver Maddocks, Scott Lowe, Sid Mukherjee, Karen Vousden, and Greg Hannon. These doctors and scientists were separately researching different treatment approaches for cancer – via metabolism, basic science, and functional genomics and RNA interference (RNAi) – when they realised the importance of nutrients to cancer growth.

“[They] all came to the same conclusion: that precision nutrition is a fourth pillar in cancer care, alongside surgery, radiotherapy, and traditional drugs,” Parikh said.

Amino acid-adjusted meal plans, drugs, and an app

The main nutrients that Faeth Therapeutics is trying to deplete (because of their importance for cancer growth) are three non-essential amino acids: serine, glycine, and proline.

Working with chefs and scientists, it has developed a meal plan with foods matched to specific cancer types and delivered directly to patients’ homes. One such meal is an amino acid-modulated dahl that can be microwaved in three minutes, served with a yoghurt sauce.

However, dietary changes alone are not sufficient to tackle cancer. Faeth Therapeutics’ solution is threepronged, comprising of the meals, therapeutic drugs, and an app. The app, which gives users access to registered dietitians, is an important part of its solution to ensure compliance, Parikh said.

“At the end of the day, changing behavioural patterns, especially for people that are in as complex a mental state as cancer patients, is not easy. You need behavioural help; you need someone on your side,” said Parikh.

Preclinical research results are promising

Its preclinical research in mouse models of intestinal adenoma and lymphoma has shown that a serine and glycine restricted diet can significantly improve survival. In one model, it doubled the 12-month survival rate from 25% to 50%.

Other preclinical research on pancreatic cancer models showed that, when combined with a Faeth diet designed to suppress insulin production, other cancer drug treatments were as much as 500% more effective and could even stop the growth of cancer cells.

The startup has ongoing trials in other cancers, including metastatic colorectal, metastatic endometrial, and ovarian. Human clinical trials are also underway.

Precision nutrition cuts the fuel to the tumour’s tank

“If you think about it, what we’re saying makes sense,” said Parikh. “Metabolism writ large – this very complex [...] map of equations and pathways – can be boiled down to nutrients, channelled through activated metabolic pathways that generate outputs. A plus B equals C.

“But all of the focus in cancer - 99% of all funding - goes up top into mutated growth signalling. We develop inhibitors to stop mutations in cancer. But the mutation is just a signal; it’s like putting your foot on the accelerator of the car. The actual heavy lifting of growth and proliferation is done by metabolism,” Parikh said. “What we do [at Faeth Therapeutics] is we cut the petrol to the tank. [We] cut the nutrients that these tumours have a reliance upon.”

As for its go-to-market strategy, the US-based startup, which has raised a total of $67 million in funding so far, plans to get regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its therapeutic drugs, and then provide the food and software to patients for free.

Powered by a machine learning platform

Ultimately, the startup aims to identify a tailor-made treatment plan for every patient, in every cancer, across every genotype, and in every line of therapy. Doing this is “a data problem that can only be resolved using machine learning,” Parikh said.

Its custom-built machine learning platform, called MetabOS, inputs information on the RNA sequencing data of a tumour, the organ in question, the tumour’s genome type, and the anti-cancer agent that is being used. It then predicts nutrient vulnerabilities.

This machine learning platform can be used for any cancer type and will form the basis of all its upcoming trials, Parikh said. However, he added that Faeth Therapeutics would need to raise not $70 million in funding but $700 million to do these trials.

Parikh describes its trio of products as “complex and expensive” but effective in beating some of the hardest to treat cancers, including pancreatic.

Could restrictive diets also deplete the microbiome –and immunity?

But, just as early cancer treatments damaged healthy cells as well as cancerous ones, could a restricted diet, such as the one proposed by Faeth Therapeutics, starve the gut microbiome of the nutrients it needs? A healthy gut microbiome is known to play an essential role in immunity and therefore in helping the body fight cancer; depleting it could therefore be counterproductive.

Parikh said Faeth Therapeutics’ specialised meals had a “pretty broad coverage” of the 280 or so nutrients that exist and they usually only had two or three nutrients removed. Nevertheless, Parikh said the startup would be interested in tracking potential impacts on gut diversity if other researchers took this on.

“[...] we feel confident that we know what’s going to change [from a cancer metabolism perspective], and then we’ll leave it up to experts in the microbiome to tell us what future impact [our treatment] might have.”

Current knowledge on the gut microbiome is still evolving, he said.

“In my mind, it’s like we are waiting for the microbiome to be characterised in as much detail as human metabolism writ large. As the microbiome catches up – and hopefully through the use of data science tools it won’t take 100 years to get there, it’ll take 10 or 15 – we’ll be able to look at those impacts more closely.”

Precision probiotics: Working backwards towards targeted health solutions

A biotech startup that created what it says is the first precision probiotic is highlighting the need to bridge the “missing link” with the medical community “We still need to convince doctors that the microbiome is really something to leverage in health,” says Nina Vinot, TargEDys

By Kirstin Knight

The French company may have launched at the end of 2018, but its story started more than 20 years ago, when researchers investigating appetite regulation identified antibodies in the blood of bulimia and anorexia patients that indicated the presence of the appetitereducing hormone alpha-MSH.

Upon further investigation, they realised that caseinolytic peptidase B (ClpB), a bacterial protein that activates anorexigenic pathways and supports weight loss, in the gut microbiota was acting as a molecular mimetic to alpha-MSH. They hypothesised that by “harvesting the right bacteria we could produce this peptide and replicate the effect of the satiety hormone”, said Vinot.

Nina Vinot International Sales Director TargEDys

This led to the company’s first product, a weight loss supplement containing the probiotic Hafnia alvei, the efficacy of which was confirmed in a 2021 study which highlighted its action on feelings of fullness.

More recently, TargEDys has worked with the Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon to identify a new strain that optimises the absorption of amino acids.

Working from the molecular level: The ‘bottom-up’ approach

The company’s “bottom-up approach” – so called to reflect the fact that it starts from the mechanism of action “at the cellular or molecular level” – is “really the opposite to the traditional way of developing probiotics”, said Vinot.

She pointed to a 2020 review in which the author, Patrick Veiga, “cites the work of TargEDys as the example of the first precision probiotic” as the first use of the term.

“He identified this unique approach that we have [and] he showed the need to go from this generic approach to probiotics to precision probiotics,” she explained. “This term of precision probiotics he coined himself. And we trademarked PreciBiomics to say the same thing.”

What is it that makes this approach unique?

“A lot of probiotics producers will tell you that they have a mechanism of action. But usually when they have, it’s something that’s … very superficial,” Vinot said.

Across the sector, there are “probably five companies in the whole world that have a mechanism of action down to [the] molecular level, to which molecule is going to activate which receptor to induce which response”, she added.

The company is now targeting three areas of health: overweight and obesity, stress and anxiety, and nutrition optimisation.

‘More straightforward’ than traditional methods

Vinot argued that this approach was much simpler than that used in traditional development.

“In our case, we start from the mechanism of action – what do we want to do in vivo? – and then we select the bacterium for this mechanism,” she said.

“It’s actually more straightforward… because you start from the efficacy and then you demonstrate it. But you already know that it’s going to work.”

This means there is much more consistency in terms of results’ reliability. And, with greater funding now going towards researching gut microbiota and probiotics, “we’re seeing more and more studies come out, and it’s gaining new clarity and popularity”, Vinot said.

But while consumer awareness is growing, a major “missing step” remains: the medical community.

She said: “We still need to convince doctors that the microbiome is really something to leverage in health.”

EU regulation ‘the biggest frustration’ for sector

Regulation, Vinot said, is “the biggest frustration in our sector in Europe”, where probiotics fall into somewhat of a grey area. The European Commission advises that the phrase “contains probiotics/prebiotics” should be considered a health claim, meaning that the term “probiotic” cannot be used in labels and communication.

This is especially frustrating for a company like TargEDys, Vinot said, “because we started from the science … and at the end of the day, we have a unique product that’s quite premium-positioned in terms of pricing. But how do you differentiate your product that has a lot of science?”

The company added zinc and chromium to its product to allow it to make claims relating to metabolism, but “people don’t know anything about the product having an effect on satiety and weight management, and any product having any random strain without any science at all can do exactly the same … and then [make] the same claims for a quarter of the price,” she said. “It’s hard for us to compete without being able to explain this added value.”

And the impacts on the consumer are “far-reaching”, she said, drawing a comparison with the market in APAC, where consumers “have access to a lot more claims so it’s easier for them to find the products that are going to help them to identify the right product for them”.

She said: “In Europe, we’re missing that part for a consumer [who has] a problem and [wants] to solve it with probiotics. They are supposed to speak with their doctors, but the doctors… are quite behind.” She added: “For a specific problem, I would go for a specific product. [But] it’s really hard for consumers in Europe to be oriented to the right product for them.”

High production costs hinder accessibility

Not only must the investment in the scientific research behind these products be considered; the thorough cleaning procedures required when working with enterobacteria – considered a contaminant by the food supplement industry – push up production costs. Is affordability a barrier for consumers, particularly given the cost-of-living crisis?

Vinot admitted it was “a struggle”. “Our goal would be to make the product available to all consumers,” she said. “But … with a price that’s roughly €45 per month of treatment, it’s still positioned as premium. It’s not accessible to everyone, especially when we target developing countries.”

Could the “missing link” with the medical community be the key? Vinot certainly thinks so. “If you compare … a product like ours to the drugs, we’re not ridiculous,” she said. “We’re really bridging the gap between supplements and [most of the] drugs are way more expensive.”

She highlighted one drug with similar claims that is having “enormous success”, which costs “about 10 times the price of our product”, saying: “It means there is a market for this, but it needs to be medically endorsed.”

Vinot added: “There are a lot of probiotics out there but still a lot of a doubt in the medical community. Doctors are still considering mostly drugs or surgery in their practice, and they have trouble trusting the sector of food supplements.

“It’s true there are good products [and] there are less good products – but they now have the tools to trust the product because they know how it works.”

Identifying new personalised approaches to supplementation

At the Future of Nutrition Summit at Vitafoods Europe, Dr Evan Berk, global director of nutritional sciences and innovation at Unilever, will discuss current trends and recent scientific breakthroughs that aims to deliver a better future for health and wellness

By Anthony Fletcher

The personalisation of supplementation is a trend that only looks set to grow. Technological innovation, the increasing consumer mindset shift to health as a lifestyle pursuit, and a need for formulators to differentiate themselves from the competition is driving this sector forward.

Berk, who has worked in the consumer healthcare and nutrition industry for the past 15 years in various R&D roles, is an expert in this field. He joined Unilever in February 2022 as part of the health and wellbeing collective, as the global director of nutritional sciences and innovation, and leads a team of scientists focused on identifying beneficial new dietary ingredients. In his presentation at the Future of Nutrition Summit at Vitafoods 2023, he plans to share his insights into this fast-evolving market segment.

Evolution of personalised nutrition

“The concept of personalised nutrition has evolved over time,” he notes. “Historically, nutrient and calorie requirements would vary for individuals based upon their age and sex. This would enable formulators to offer the right level of nutrition, in order to achieve maximal health.”

Then came the development of benefit-led supplements, offering ingredients to support specific needs such as bone health or eye health. And most recently, there have been advances in understanding the human genome. “This has enabled further advances in delivering additional supplementation to meet specific nutrient needs of individuals,” adds Berk.

In the US, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provides the foundation for personalised nutrition, with varying daily reference intakes (DRIs) according to age and sex. While many companies offer benefit-specific supplements based on these parameters, there has also been a rise in personalised supplementation companies offering recommendations based on questionnaires, saliva, hair, or blood samples.

Tapping new health and wellness opportunities

Berk believes that this trend reflects a clear shift in the consumer mindset, from health as the absence of disease to health as a lifestyle pursuit. This is opening up new opportunities, and leading to the development of new personalised solutions.

“Previously, products may have been ‘mass-personalised’, offering a few choices for many people,” he explains. “Now, there is an opportunity to have a broader portfolio, and truly deliver a personalised solution for the individual.”

This is where Berk and his team come in. “I lead a team of scientists who are learning more about the human body and understanding the role key nutrients play for specific benefits,” he says. “We have on-going research programmes in a range of disciplines including microbiome, cognition, and hair science.”

Dr Evan Berk, global director, nutritional sciences and innovation, Unilever

It is this combined knowledge from various disciplines that will enable formulators to deliver ever-more targeted nutrition, with science-backed ingredients. Ultimately, this will bring benefits to consumers looking to supplement their lifestyles with health-boosting products.

“Over the course of my career, I have seen a lot of advancement in the field of nutrition science,” says Berk. “I am excited to see what the future holds. Helping individuals achieve optimised health, and live their best life, is very rewarding.”

Berk is also looking forward to attending the Future of Nutrition Summit, in order to learn more about how other experts see the future state of nutrition.

“This is a great opportunity to bring thought leaders together, share best practices and help promote a healthier world,” he says.

Dr Evan Berk, global director of nutritional sciences and innovation at Unilever, health & wellbeing, will be delivering a presentation at Vitafoods entitled ‘The future of supplementation: A personalised approach.’

Precision care for vaginal health via metagenomic sequencing

US startup Evvy uses metagenomics to sequence the vaginal microbiome via an at-home swab test, allowing women to personalise their health care plan. “We’re interested in building a new understanding of the female body,”

it says

By Niamh Michail

Evvy co-founders Priyanka Jain and Laine Bruzek spent 18 months developing and validating a vaginal microbiome test that they say is “pioneering precision care for vaginal health”. Users send a swab sample and receive results along with a customised plan of science-backed recommendations – such as taking a specific probiotic or antibiotic – and one-on-one coaching.

According to Evvy, which raised $5 million in a seed round in 2021, its comprehensive testing makes it stand out from the crowd. The startup screens for “all the disruptive and protective microbes that scientific research has shown are related to common problems.

Leveraging ‘overlooked biomarkers’ in the female body

“We are a vaginal microbiome company. But more broadly than that, we’re really interested in building a new understanding of the female body,” said Amelia Marran-Baden, head of branding.

“Just to give one statistic, in the United States, women weren’t required to be included in clinical trials until 1993. There’s this massive data gap in our understanding of how the female body functions and how it will react to different drugs and treatments. And so, Evvy is really on a mission to narrow that gap [...] by discovering and leveraging overlooked biomarkers in the female body, and give people the education and information [to] make informed decisions.”

The bacteria that Evvy screens for include those associated with aerobic vaginitis, such as Escherichia coli and group B streptococci; bacterial vaginosis, such as Gardnerella vaginalis, Atopobium vaginae, and Prevotella bivia; cytolytic vaginosis, such as Lactobacillus crispatus; recurrent urinary tract infections, such as E. coli, Klebsiella, and group B streptococci; and yeast infections, such as Candida albicans, Candida glabrata.

It also screens for bacteria associated with good health, such as Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus jensenii. (It does not test for parasites, viruses, or sexually transmitted diseases.)

A high-fidelity picture of the microbiome

The use of metagenomics to sequence the vaginal microbiome gives a “high-fidelity picture of the bacteria and fungi” that are present as well as their relative amounts, said Marran-Baden, offering a level of detail that has been missing up until now.

“Instead of just isolating one disruptive or protective microbe, like you might get on a PCR test, for example, it’s really giving you a full picture of what’s going on, and [that] allows you to understand what the best plan is for your specific body,” she said.

“We’re really trying to personalise this. A lot of people think, ‘I have vaginal symptoms, a probiotic is good for me’. But if you have a lot of protective bacteria and a lot of strains of lactobacilli, a probiotic might actually make symptoms worse before making it better.”

The startup recently began an integrative clinical care plan for eligible tests, whereby it works with affiliated doctors who can issue a prescription if required. It also has several academic partnerships; a scientific advisory committee composed of board-certified gynaecologists and professors; and is building a longitudinal dataset to glean insights into how microbiomes change over time.

This dataset will improve understanding of the vaginal microbiome, enabling Evvy to predict treatment response for varying interventions on different patient profiles. Evvy customers have the choice to opt in or out of this research when signing up.

Two-month pilot study: 71% average reduction of disruptive bacteria

The New York-headquartered startup, which offers its services throughout the US, recently designed and conducted a small study, approved by an institutional review board (IRB), with 23 participants to evaluate the effectiveness of its treatment programmes.

After two months, there was a 71% average reduction of disruptive bacteria and 68% average increase of protective bacteria, while all participants said their symptoms improved.

There was also an improvement in perceived quality of care. While prior to starting Evvy treatment, only 4% of surveyed women said they felt understood and none felt like they had access to the right care and resources, this rose to 96% and 100% respectively.

‘We’re not just another antibiotic’

The vaginal microbiome – just like the gut microbiome – is hugely sensitive to environmental factors.

Growing numbers of women are aware that taking a course of antibiotics can destroy the vaginal microbiota but there are other, less obvious changes that can also have an impact. Using a new shampoo that contains synthetic chemicals and fragrances, for instance, may trigger vaginal microbiome dysbiosis as the foam mixes with shower water and runs down the body.

Stress, fatigue, or illness can also cause changes in the vaginal microbiome. Due to this continually changing state, Evvy recommends that users take the test every three months or as symptoms evolve.

As for next steps, the startup plans on investigating how food is linked to a healthy, balanced vaginal microbiome.

CEO Priyanka Jain told Vitafoods Insights: “We are focused on validating that having comprehensive vaginal microbiome data improves diagnoses and selection of the correct treatment pathways, and validating that our care pathways continue to improve vaginal health outcomes. We are also researching more detailed definitions of health and disease in a wide range of people, and the mechanisms by which people move between them.

“As we [do this], we hope to gain a better understanding of the specific treatments and foods that are most likely to improve or maintain a specific person’s vaginal microbiome.”

According to Marran-Baden, the personalisation of care is “a huge step in the right direction” for women’s health.

“We’re not just another antibiotic; it’s personalised and it takes into the account all of you, from your test results to your health history. And this empowers our affiliated [doctors] to provide women with exactly the right treatment programme,” she said.