March 29^th, 2018, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

NutriLeads, a Dutch Health Ingredients company announces that its NUTRI-NEED project has been selected for €2.5 million funding under the EIC Accelerator (SME Instrument (phase 2) which is part of the European Innovation Council. The aim of the 2-year project is to prepare NutriLeads’ health promoting food ingredient Xtramune™ for commercialization.

NutriLeads’ most advanced product, Xtramune™, is a unique proprietary carrot-derived fibre under development to support immune function and improve resistance to respiratory infections. It has been successfully tested in preclinical models and in a proof of concept study in healthy volunteers. It is currently being studied in a clinical trial to assess its protective effect against an experimental common cold infection.

Ruud Albers, NutriLeads’ CEO comments: “The NUTRI-NEED project will accelerate the development of our food ingredient Xtramune™ and specifically it will allow NutriLeads to further scale-up the production process, obtain market access for Europe, perform a large clinical study in older adults (65+) with increased infection risk and prepare Xtramune™ for commercialization.”

The international jury of investors, entrepreneurs and business experts involved in the assessment of the proposals commented on the NUTRI-NEED project: “The idea, if successful, has huge potential to disrupt the market. It also has the potential to enhance Europe’s standing in the health supplement market vis a vis the United States. The IPR strategy is strong and well-implemented. The project has a very impressive team coming from the big players in the industry. They are experts in diverse fields that complement each other within the team.”

 

June 7th, 2017, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

NUTRILEADS B.V., a Dutch Nutrition & Health startup, together with NIZO food research (consortium leader) and Friesland Campina, has been awarded a €3,7 million EFRO project called CHALLENGE. The aims of the project are to develop new food ingredients that will support resistance to infections, as well as affordable and predictive research models in humans (Human Challenge Models).

NutriLeads develops supportive nutritional ingredients for application in dietary supplements, medical food and functional food products intended for specific target populations seeking to support their health. Its lead ingredient aims to support immune function and increase resistance to common infectious diseases such as colds and flu.

Ruud Albers, CEO of Nutrileads, has always been a strong believer and long-time advocate of the Human Challenge Model concept, in which the response of human volunteers to physiological challenges is assessed. According to Albers, the CHALLENGE consortium is a logical next step in substantiating the immune supportive effect of Nutrileads’ lead ingredient, a novel Immune Modulating Plant Polysaccharide.

Alwine Kardinaal, project leader and working at NIZO, says “the combined research power of the companies involved is quite unique and will enable us to take the next step in predicting health benefits with the use of Human Challenge Studies”.

The CHALLENGE project will be co-financed by the European Union and EFRO OP-Oost.

March 29th, 2017, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Dutch nutritional health ingredients startup NUTRILEADS B.V. today announces the successful closing of a Series A financing round with existing shareholders DSM VENTURING, PPM OOST, SHIFT INVEST and THUJA CAPITAL.

NutriLeads develops supportive nutritional ingredients for application in dietary supplements, medical food and functional food products intended for specific target populations seeking to support their immune function. Its lead ingredient aims to support immune function and increase resistance to common infectious diseases such as colds and flu.

A proof of concept study in human volunteers showed an excellent tolerability and safety profile. More importantly, a dose dependent effect regarding the enhancement of immune function was demonstrated. In addition to these positive clinical results, a recent production pilot showed the feasibility of a cost-effective and sustainable production process for its lead ingredient.

The current Series A financing will be used to support the further development of NutriLead’s lead ingredient, a novel Immune Modulating Plant Polysaccharide. During the next phase, production will be scaled up and two human clinical trials to substantiate the immune supportive effect in different target populations will be performed.

“The current investment supports the fast track development of our lead ingredient for application in dietary supplements, medical foods and functional foods. We are confident that this will help us realize our ambition to partner with ingredient suppliers and food companies to bring the benefits of our health ingredients to patients and consumers” indicates Ruud Albers, PhD, CEO of NutriLeads.

November 24th, 2016, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

NUTRILEADS B.V., a Dutch Nutrition & Health startup today announces the positive outcome of a proof of concept study in humans demonstrating that its lead ingredient IMPP-1 is safe, well tolerated and supports immune function in humans.

NUTRILEADS develops nutritional ingredients for application in health-promoting food products. The company was founded in 2012 based upon an invention originating from Unilever. In 2015, NutriLeads closed a successful seed financing round with an investor syndicate comprising Thuja Capital, DSM Venturing BV, PPM Oost and Shift Invest and is currently discussing aseries A financing.

NutriLeads’ lead ingredient Immuno Modulatory Plant Polysaccharide-1 (IMPP-1) can be sustainably sourced from food crops. Nutrileads is developing this patented ingredient for different food applications including dietary supplements, medical food and functional food to reach various target populations.

The results of the first proof of concept study with IMPP-1 in healthy volunteers were evaluated by an international group of key opinion leaders from industry and academia. The experts concluded that the results demonstrate excellent tolerability and safety characteristics and significant and dose dependent stimulation of the immune system.

“The positive result in first proof of concept study in healthy volunteers provides the necessary confidence to go full speed ahead with our ambitious development program including several clinical trials to support the use of this proprietary ingredient from sustainable sources as dietary supplement and for application in specialized functional and medical food products” indicates Ruud Albers, PhD, CEO of NutriLeads.

November 21st, 2016, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

NUTRILEADS B.V., a Dutch Nutrition & Health startup has won a prestigious Eurostars grant to support the development of its lead ingredient IMPP-1 for application in medical foods.

Nutrileads (as consortium leader) and 4 partners from the Netherlands, Germany and Finland have been awarded a € 2 million Eurostars project called NIMF. The consortium will develop Nutrileads’ proprietary ingredient Immune Modulatory Plant Polysaccharide-1 (IMPP-1) into a new ingredient for medical food products to fight impaired immune functioning as a result of malnutrition (particularly common in a variety of patient groups). Nutrileads is developing this ingredient, in addition to medical food products, also for other food applications like dietary supplements and functional food.

The NIMF project was the highest rated project with a Dutch participant, ranking 4th of 269 applications across all fields in Europe. Erik Dam, CBO of NutriLeads emphasizes: “The very positive evaluation of the NIMF project provides a further validation of the relevance of our proposition and the quality of our science, team and partners”.

June 13th, 2016. Brief summary of the supported project’ PoC trial’ (PROJ-00535): Nutrileads BV identifies and develops innovative food ingredients that have a positive health effect. Its lead ingredient IMPP-1 supports immune function and increases resistance to common infections. In this project, IMPP-1 obtained from a food crop is tested in a proof of concept study in human volunteers to determine tolerability and effectiveness. This is an important step in the further development of IMPP-1 as health promoting ingredient for application in dietary supplements, medical and functional foods

May 26th, 2016, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Dutch nutritional health ingredients startup NutriLeads B.V. announces the signing of a collaboration agreement with DSM Nutritional Products for the further development of its lead ingredient.

Following the successful closure of a seed investment in October 2015, NutriLeads announces that it has initiated a collaboration with DSM Nutritional Products to speed up development and to scale up production of its leading ingredient, a proprietary novel polysaccharide to support immune function and increase resistance to infections. Immune support and resistance to infections and colds is a major health concern of consumers and patients alike and is the main category of supplements used by consumers of all ages.

Dr Ruud Albers, CEO of Nutrileads: “I am very pleased that we embark on this co-development with DSM Nutritional Products, a strong partner committed to innovation. The experience and scale of DSM Nutritional Products will help to bring the benefits of our proprietary ingredient faster to consumers and patients”.

Dr Rob Beudeker, VP Innovation Human Nutrition and Health at DSM: “We welcome this collaboration with NutriLeads. They own some interesting technology and we would like to help them bringing this to commercial fruition. Immunity benefits are very relevant for families all over the world.”

November 18th, 2015, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Dutch nutritional health ingredients startup NUTRILEADS B.V. today announces the successful closure of a seed financing round with an investment syndicate comprising DSM VENTURING, PPM OOST, SHIFT INVEST and THUJA CAPITAL.

NUTRILEADS develops nutritional ingredients for application in health-promoting food products. The company was founded in December 2011 based on an invention initially made at Unilever. In 2013, NutriLeads, together with NIZO Food Research, obtained a grant from the top-sector Agri & Food to start the preclinical development of its lead in gredient.

“This seed investment enables us to accelerate development and to move our lead ingredient to clinical testing. This is a major step in achieving our ambition to partner with ingredient suppliers and food companies to bring the benefits of our health ingredients to patients and consumers” indicates Ruud Albers, PhD, former Nutrition and Health R&D director at Unilever and CEO of NutriLeads.

NutriLeads’ lead ingredient is derived from a traditional herbal remedy, which was shown in clinical trials to support immune function and to improve resistance to infections. It was discovered that the active component can be sustain ably sourced from food crops. NutriLeads develops this proprietary ingredient as dietary supplement and for application in specialized functional and medical food products.

Erik Dam, former VP at Danone Advanced Medical Nutrition and CBO of NutriLeads emphasizes: “The consortium of investors is carefully composed to support NutriLeads through its next development stages and it provides highly relevant and complementary expertise and networks”.

Michel Briejer, PhD, from THUJA CAPITAL, lead investor of the syndicate, indicates that “NutriLeads combines experienced management and deep knowledge with interesting assets initially identified at Unilever. We have recognized this as an exciting opportunity to create value for both patients/consumers as well as investors“.

Marius Prins, CEO of PPM Oost, who is also very pleased with the investment in NutriLeads, states: “Significant value creation by bringing the benefits of health ingredients to patients and consumers is highly relevant to our fund Innovatie-en Energiefonds Gelderland (IEG). In addition, this strategic investment further strengthens the ecosystem of Wageningen UR and the Campus Development”.

October 12th, 2015

Ruud Albers, CEO of NutriLeads, will give a presentation at the Science2Business event at the Foodvalley expo 2015 in Wageningen on Monday October 12th 2015. The presentation titled ‘IMPP-1, a plant fiber that modulates immune function’ will be held in session 2: GI functioning in animal and human health.