Last week’s headlines included news that Canada’s Weston Family Foundation has announced a new C$37 million granting program for microbiome research, regulators around the world clamping down on vitamin B6, and China’s push for functional marine ingredient innovation.
Weston Family Foundation announces big granting program for microbiome interventions
The Microbiome Innovations for New Therapies program, announced by a representative of the Weston Family Foundation at Probiota Americas, aims to identify and support new microbiome-based interventions.
Marcel van de Wouw, PhD, Program Director, Microbiome at the Weston Family Foundation, told attendees in Vancouver that the C$37 million granting program, spread over seven years, will advance new microbiome-based interventions with convincing preclinical data towards clinical trials.
The Foundation has been active in the microbiome space since 2017, but the new Microbiome Innovations for New Therapies (MINT) program represents the largest granting envelope that it has established to-date.
“Clinical studies are not cheap, and to really do them well, ideally aspiring for that pharma-grade clinical trial, that what we’re hearing the field is really looking for,” said Dr. van de Wouw.
Beginning in September, MINT is agnostic about the type of microbiome intervention that would qualify, said Dr. van de Wouw.
Regulators clamp down on vitamin B6 as toxicity debate grows
Regulators in several countries are tightening oversight of vitamin B6 supplements due to increasing reports of toxicity, particularly peripheral neuropathy, though serious adverse events remain rare relative to widespread use.
Scientific debate persists over what constitutes a risky dose, with some studies indicating harm at doses as low as 50 mg per day, while industry groups argue that only much higher intakes are problematic and warn that strict limits could have unintended health consequences.
Recent regulatory actions in the EU, Australia, and Canada include lower upper intake levels and new label warnings, often based on precautionary principles amid uncertainties in the evidence base.
Health Canada, for example, now expects license holders to add warnings to product labels containing 10 mg of vitamin B6 or more.
Sonia Parmar, VP of government relations and regulatory affairs at the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA), said this ‘precautionary approach’ raises broader concerns about how Health Canada is choosing to regulate certain supplements.
“[Health Canada’s] conclusion is based on a limited number of cases, with significant uncertainty, incomplete clinical information and confounding factors—it does not establish causality or quantify real-world risk,” she said, noting that the outcome also highlights questions around consistency.
Chinese ministries team up to drive R&D of functional marine ingredients
Eight Chinese ministries, including the National Health Commission (NHC) and State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR), have drafted a first-of-its-kind policy paper aimed at promoting the R&D of functional marine ingredients in health supplements, Traditional Chinese Medicine and pharmaceutical products.
One of the goals is to launch various innovative marine functional products and pharmaceuticals in the market and achieve an overall industrial added value of at least CNY130 billion (US$19bn) by the year 2030.
Last year, the sector achieved an added value of CNY99.6bn (US$14.7bn), an increase of nearly 40% since 2021.
The policy paper titled “Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of Marine Drugs and Functional Products” was unveiled during a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources at the end of May.
It was drafted as part of China’s Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development from 2026 to 2030.
“The industrial chain covers innovative marine drugs, marine health foods, marine biomaterials, and marine biological products. Among them, the output of raw materials such as chitosan and sodium alginate accounts for more than 80% of the global market share, and marine pharmaceuticals developed in China account for about 28% in the global market,” said Shen Jun, an official of the Ministry of Natural Resources at the press conference.
However, she noted that the current system is insufficient to drive high-quality innovation. There is thus a need for high-level ministerial coordination to accelerate industrial breakthrough.
