“Over these 50 years, we have evolved from extracting biomolecules of animal origin to developing different applications,” Luis Solera, CEO at Bioiberica, told NutraIngredients.
“We’ve been evolving with the market, and I think part of the value we bring is that we treat these nutraceuticals the same way we treat pharmaceutical products.”
Circular economy model
Bioiberica operates with a circular economy model centered around maximizing value and repurposing byproducts, Solera explained.
The company’s foundation was linked to heparin production, a pharmaceutical ingredient for thrombosis application. However, in producing heparin, only 0.01% of the raw material is used.
In order to “get the most” out of biomolecules from animal origin, Bioiberica progressed into developing different applications from the raw materials. For example, the company’s Collavant n2, a native type II collagen ingredient, is a high-value collagen derived from chicken sternums.
As Solera noted, by giving value to all raw materials, Bioiberica has been able to expand from pharmaceutical Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) into nutraceuticals, animal nutrition and biostimulants for agriculture.
To make this sustainable, the company strives to deeply understand market needs and trends while relying heavily on scientific research, Antonio Vendrell, marketing director at Bioiberica, added.
“On one hand, as a company, there’s always the ambition to produce as many functional ingredients as possible,” he said. “But at the same time, you need to stay focused, because without focus, it becomes difficult to make things feasible.”
Product development
Javier Velasco-Alvarez, quality and R&D director at Bioiberica, noted that the company leverages its control of raw materials to develop ingredients like Collavant n2, very much guided by market trends and advanced scientific research.
“We hold a strong position in the value chain of animal-derived ingredients,” he said.
“Our key question is always, what are the potential ingredients we can produce from the raw materials we control? Of course, we benchmark the market. For instance, we entered the collagen space around 10 years ago, recognizing that collagen is a growing sector.
“In that case, we chose to pursue the highest-value form. We produce native type II collagen from chicken sternum. From that raw material, we’ve conducted various studies to demonstrate its efficacy.”
He explained that the company’s research employs genomics, proteomics, metabolomics to investigate the nature of its ingredients and the impact it will have in real terms.
Daniel Martínez Puig, head of R&D human health at Bioiberica, explained that the company’s research is driven by a central question, “What are the biological targets where our ingredients will have the greatest benefit? And what is the mechanism of action behind the effects we observe?”
In the case of Collavant n2, a recent study was conducted in healthy individuals experiencing joint discomfort due to physical activity.
“We demonstrated that supplementation with Collavant n2 leads to improvements in joint comfort and quality of life,” Martínez Puig said.
Collagen confusion and certification
As Monica Gomez Navarro, marketing manager of branded ingredients Bioiberica, told NutraIngredients, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding collagen. This was highlighted by findings from an industry survey conducted at Vitafoods in 2024 and unveiled during Bioiberica’s ‘Collagen Symposium’ at the 2025 edition of the event in Barcelona
“The results from this survey were very surprising, as we saw that even though 84% of industry professionals know that collagen plays a role in joint health, only one in two knew which type of collagen was best for joint health,” she said.
“So, I really think this confirms that this is a category where there is still a lot of confusion, and it’s important to clarify the different types of collagen and educate the market in order to dispel all this confusion.”
Bioiberica has now become the first collagen manufacturer to receive NutraStrong Collagen Verification for its Collavant n2, a certification issued by SGS Nutrasource. It is Gomez Navarro’s hope that with this certification, brands will be able to differentiate their products in a competitive market as well as educate formulators about differentiation in collagen quality.
Backed by the Collagen Stewardship Alliance, the NutraStrong program aims to bring greater clarity to the collagen category and the broader supplement sector through standardization.