Launching at Vitafoods Barcelona, in May, the new AI-powered platform uses a digital twin of the gut microbiome to identify condition-specific biological needs and design targeted, food-grade nutraceutical formulations.
“We believe this is completely ground-breaking,” Balazs Farkas-Jenser, Enbiosis, told NutraIngredients. “There’s more and more emerging evidence around the fact many diseases and illnesses can be directly linked to our microbiome.”
Using digital twin models of the gut microbiome and genome-scale metabolic simulations, the firm designs targeted nutraceutical formulations for specific health conditions.
“We are delivering supplements that program the gut microbiome to produce its own health benefiting metabolites to deliver meaningful health changes with food grade ingredients,” explained Farkas-Jenser.
Once the algorithm has pinpointed food-grade molecules that drive specific biological responses, and the initial blend has been tested for efficacy using the twin model, the tech develops scalable, stable nutraceutical powder blends of 12 to 15 bioactives.
These blends can be added directly into clients’ capsules, powders, or even functional foods, under exclusive license agreements.
Potential health targets range from beauty and IBS, to weight management, cognitive, hormonal support, and more.
The team is working to validate its platform’s abilities across a diverse range of conditions and looking to collaborate with food and supplement companies to develop and exclusively license its AI formulations.
The Enbiosis journey
Enbiosis 1:0 launched in August 2019, starting with an algorithm that used microbiome analysis to find correlations between bacteria and health parameters.
The firm leveraged these insights to offer personalized nutrition advice as well as supplements.
The service works on a subscription model which provides two tests per year, access to their personalized diet recommendations and meal plan, plus personalized prebiotics.
That platform generated the proprietary microbiome dataset based on more than 200,000 people that now powers Enbiosis 2:0.
Clinically validated
As an initial clinical validation of its twins platform, the firm recently completed a pilot study in 20 participants to test the platform’s ability to formulate a solution to reduce symptoms of dry eye disease.
“Dry eye disease effects one in four adults and the efficacy of interventions in this area can be accurately tracked, making it an ideal model for testing the efficacy of our formulation,” explained Farkas-Jenser.
Participants received Enbiosis’ AI-generated supplement blend once daily for eight weeks. Assessments were performed at baseline, end of treatment and in a 16-week post-treatment follow-up.
Researchers found tear production, as assessed by the Schirmer test, improved progressively during treatment. What’s more, the team compared their results with a systematic review of studies into the efficacy of Cyclosporine—the most commonly prescribed medicine for this condition—and their data suggests their intervention outperformed the medical treatment in terms of tear production volumes, by around 50%.
Additionally, the follow-up QOL questionnaire revealed the improvements remained eight weeks post intervention.
Farkas-Jenser said this is due to the microbiome being modulated in a way where they don’t relapse to the pre-treatment levels.
The team is now recruiting patients for a variety of RCTs to prove the efficacy of the platform in delivering formulations targeting a range of health concerns.
Farkas-Jenser said they have particularly high hopes for their platform’s impact in areas such as IBS and IBD, as well as metabolic and neurological conditions.
He added: “The total addressable market is very, very significant.”
