Blackmores CEO to head new entity set up by parent company
Alastair Symington, CEO of Blackmores Limited, will be leading a new entity set up by parent company Kirin Holdings Company.
The new entity, named Kirin Health Science International (KHSI) Pty Ltd, will come into operation from April 1, 2026.
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company will oversee Kirin’s B2C business in the health science domain outside of Japan.
These businesses include Blackmores itself, as well as FANCL, Kyowa Hakko Bio and Koiwai Dairy Products.
Kirin deepens immune health R&D with subsidiaries FANCL, Blackmores
Kirin is advancing its immune health R&D with subsidiaries FANCL and Blackmores, piloting a urine-immune test and launching a new immune health supplement.
The new test, which is slated to debut in Q3 2026, will measure immunoglobulin A (lgA) levels in urine samples. A “commander-in-chief” of the immune system, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) activate immune cells such as NK cells, T cells and B cells.
Previous research from Kirin reported that individuals with high pDC activity have significantly higher levels of lgA in their urine samples. The findings are planned for publication in Q2 this year.
Growth drivers and market opportunities for beauty-from-within across APAC
Innovation in product formats, ingredients and marketing is fueling rapid growth in the beauty-from-within sector across APAC and Australasia, as brands introduce new ways to blend beauty and wellness into consumers’ daily routines.
The two regions are expected to contribute to 41% of global consumer health growth up until 2030, highlighting the critical role of the ingestible beauty trend for industry players.
Data shared by Euromonitor International indicated that beauty was the second-most important function in these regions’ vitamins and dietary supplements (VDS) market last year.
Growth Asia Summit 2026: Calbee, NielsenIQ, PepsiCo to present this July
The Growth Asia Summit 2026 will take place in Singapore at the iconic Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center from July 8 to 10.
Joining the summit for the first time is Japanese food, snacks and nutrition giant Calbee.
Calbee will be presenting its vision of “well-being through food”, focusing on how it is approaching personalized food and nutrition through its Body Granola service and products.
Broccoli sprouts’ bioactive shown to preserve cognitive function in seniors
The supplementation of glucoraphanin (GLR), a bioactive compound abundant in broccoli sprouts, has been shown to preserve cognitive function in seniors, especially seniors diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment.
The above is based on findings from a 3.5-year pilot study in Japan.
Writing in Frontiers in Nutrition, the researchers highlighted that the study was the first-of-its-kind to investigate the long-term effects of GLR in individuals at higher risk of developing dementia.
