Kaneka Probiotics is putting women’s health at the center of its innovation strategy. In this interview with NutraIngredients’ Heather Granato, Jordi Riera, Chief Business Officer at Kaneka Probiotics, discusses how precision probiotics are uniquely positioned to support women across their lifespan; particularly through their impact on the estrobolome, the collection of gut bacteria that influences estrogen metabolism.
Riera shares insights into Kaneka’s pioneering clinical research, including the first study showing that a probiotic strain with high glucuronidase activity can help modulate estrogen reabsorption during menopause. He also highlights Kaneka’s science-driven approach, global research partnerships, and commitment to building consumer trust through education and clinically validated solutions.
Key takeaways
Women’s Health at the Core
Probiotic manufacturer Kaneka Probiotics is prioritizing innovation in women’s health, addressing historical research gaps and delivering targeted probiotic solutions.
The Estrobolome Explained
The estrobolome – the group of gut bacteria that influences estrogen metabolism – plays a critical role during perimenopause and menopause, making it a key focus for probiotic innovation.
Clinical Breakthrough
Kaneka Probiotics is the first probiotic manufacturer to demonstrate that a strain with high glucuronidase activity, combined with complementary strains, can help support estrogen reabsorption and ease the decline seen in menopause.
Precision Probiotics Approach
Unlike generic products, Kaneka identifies specific strains based on their mechanism of action, delivering clinically validated health benefits backed by rigorous science.
Global Research Network
As a leading probiotic manufacturer, Kaneka collaborates with independent universities and hospitals worldwide, currently running ~30 clinical studies to ensure diverse, credible results.
Educating the Consumer
Today’s consumers want transparency. Kaneka Probiotics empowers brands to build trust by sharing the science-driven story behind every precision probiotic.
Video transcript
Heather: Well, hello, I’m Heather Granato – here with NutraIngredients and joining me is Jordi Riera, Chief Business Officer at Kaneka Probiotics. Thanks for being here.
Jordi: Hello.
Heather: So, we’re going to talk a little bit about how precision probiotics support women’s health directly and via their impact on the estrobolome. So, Kaneka has really put women’s health at the center of its innovation. Talk to me a little bit about how your focus on next-gen probiotics and their ability to support a woman’s health throughout her lifespan addresses the women’s health gap and how you serve this key demographic.
Jordi: So, at Kaneka we see a big opportunity in developing new products and new technologies for women’s health, not only because there’s been historically a little bit of an abandon in the research around women’s health. And that’s something that we took seriously when we were building our strategy plans. But at the same time, we see a big opportunity because there’s so many things that microbiome can do for women’s health that we see like a huge opportunity to innovate in that field and develop nice products that make an impact.
Heather: So, can you speak to the concept of the estrobolome itself and how dysbiosis can actually both elevate and decrease estrogen levels?
Jordi: Yeah, so estrobolome is a concept that is not invented by us, obviously that comes from research for many years. I think it was identified for the first time in the early 2000’s. The concept of estrobolome is basically how gut microbiota can modulate and can mediate in the metabolism of estrogens. In that particular case, estrobolome would refer to all these groups of bacteria, strains and species that live in the gut microbiome and that can influence how the body eliminates or reabsorb the estrogens and that basically mediates anything that is related to estrogens, in particular the menopause.
Heather: Interesting. So, are there different factors at play that impact the outcome of whether the estrobolome has higher or lower levels of estrogen, things like age or other health conditions that might play a role?
Jordi: Yeah, of course. So, the key one is when women enter into the menopause period. So, during perimenopause and menopause, gradually the ovarian tissue stops producing the much estrogen that was producing before. And the body naturally eliminates the estrogens. Main elimination routes are through the kidney and through the gastrointestinal tract. When they are eliminated through gastrointestinal tract, basically the estrogens get flagged, they deconjugate and they get naturally eliminated. And since the ovarian tissue is not producing more, the body gradually loses the levels of estrogens. And everything that is related to perimenopause and menopause is associated to that decrease. (2:45) So what we do with the intervention is helping the body reabsorb this estrogen. So, we don’t add estrogen. The estrogens that are not represented in the body, but we help the body replenish the levels of estrogens and flatten a little bit the curve of the decrease of the levels and that associates to several benefits.
Heather: Well, I find it fascinating that you’ve actually done a recent study, the newest study, which talks about for the first time that a probiotic formula with a high… Now help me out with the term here.
Jordi: Glucuronidase.
Heather: There you go – high activity. This strain could actually affect the estrobolome. So, this builds on previous work around women’s health so tell me a little bit about the study findings and what we can expect next.
Jordi: Yeah, that’s a perfect example of how we like innovating in probiotics because we identified the mechanism of action that was characterized by science. So, we knew from the previous work on estrobolome that there were bacteria that were capable to help this reabsorption of estrogens. So, we did a huge screening within our stream banks to find one strain that is naturally having this enzyme that helps in this reabsorption. So, what we did next would be, was a pioneering study. That’s the only study that has been done to date in that field to prove that administering this strain together with two more strains that have other benefits can help in this reabsorption of estrogens. And we see that in this study. We see how the levels of estrogens in the probiotic group were lowering less, were almost flat while the control group, the placebo, were going down. So, there was a significant difference that is explaining that the mechanism was effectively working.
Heather: It’s really exciting because you have really focused on building more research and this roadmap over time. I also find that you are very science-based, and you’ve got this focus on precision probiotics. So, talk to me a little bit about defining precision probiotics as well as how your team works in collaboration with your outside organizations to really bring unique solutions to market.
Jordi: Yeah, so precision probability is again something that we didn’t invent. It’s not a commercial concept. It’s something that was coming from the academy actually. And it speaks about all these bacteria that have been identified through very specific mechanism of action to achieve very specific benefits. So it’s a little bit going the other way around in the probiotic development from the bottom-up approach where you find a strain that is stable and you try to find applications for that in general probiotic benefits into something totally different – that is let’s find one strain, but that’s the strain because we were looking for that mechanism of action. And in our opinion, that makes a big difference in terms of how effective that strain is. And we see in our clinical trials, and we do a lot of them, we see in our clinical trials that that makes a much bigger impact, much bigger benefit in clinical endpoints, not just in commercial aspects, but also in clinical endpoints. And that makes a difference in how the product can be achieving bigger targets. We work with research organizations all over the world. We have in pipeline right now around 30 clinical studies being run right now in different applications, different areas. We like partnering with universities, hospitals from all over the place because we like validating our science with different ethnicities, with different markets, with different cultures, different diets, and we like doing it as independent research. So, we don’t do all our research internally through CROs that we pay. We like doing a lot with independent researchers because that’s the way that we make sure that our science has the right credibility.
Heather: I think that’s fantastic. And really the investments that you’re making pay off in the health benefits that ultimately come to consumers. When you have that grounding, understanding the mechanism of action, you’re bringing something that’s very targeted for the health effects that they’re seeking.
Jordi: Yeah, and actually we see that more and more with all the explosion of social media that the consumer wants to be educated. They would not trust just an endorsement of a product or just trust the fancy box on the shelf. They like to be told the story about the product, how that product can make an impact to them. And we believe in that, and we believe in that in the perspective of science. So, if you can explain to the consumer that the product works, but it works because of certain reasons that we can teach and educate, and our customers can teach to their customers to do that. We believe that the credibility of product is built up and that creates more enthusiasm about the use of the product.
Heather: Absolutely. Well, Jordi, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I really appreciate your insights.
Jordi: Thank you.
Heather: Thank you.