The product, AMILI Metabolic Health, is already available in selected practitioner channels and will be available in Unity via an exclusive retail arrangement from September 2026.
A key feature of the product is that it was formulated based on Asian gut microbiome data - specifically from Singapore’s National University Hospital (NUH) and AMILI’s multi-ethnic Asian Microbiome Library. The former consists of microbiome data from hospital patients, including those with hypertension and hyperlipidemia, while the latter consists largely of healthy individuals who have taken AMILI’s gut microbiome test.
“An Asian gut is not the same as a Western one. The microbes are primarily driven by our diets, lifestyles and environment, which is why solutions built on Asian data matter. We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the health of our fellow Singaporeans through this effort,” said Dr Jeremy Lim, co-founder and CEO at AMILI.
Emphasizing on Asian-specificity of the formulation, Pauline Png, general manager at Unity, FairPrice Group, said that the synbiotic was the first-of-its-kind available across Unity.
While consumers are familiar with gut benefits of microbiome supplements, the benefits of synbiotics for metabolic health are still not well-understood. The pharmacy retail chain, which has over 90 outlets in Singapore, is working with pharmacists to promote public understanding on microbiome supplements’ benefits for metabolic health.
“We are excited to partner with AMILI as this allows us to bring trusted, science-based Asian microbiome data for metabolic health closer to the community,” said Png.
The R&D process
Using both data sources has enabled the comparison and analysis of microbiome data in healthy individuals and patients, Dr Lim told NutraIngredients.
A key point of comparison is the microbes present in these two different populations and difference in the interaction between microbes and metabolites they produce.
“We have taken a functional pathway approach. We study the microbes present in individuals, find out what these microbes produce and how they interact with one another,” he said.
The R&D process also tapped into the global commercial strain library to identify strains beneficial for metabolic health, depending on the metabolites that they produce.
Eventually, the AMILI R&D team has come out with a formulation containing four probiotic strains, namely Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium adolescentis, the postbiotic Akkermansia, prebiotic fiber and botanical extracts such as milk thistle.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus, for example, was selected to improve fasting blood glucose, liver function, reduce insulin resistance, while easing liver stress and inflammation. Akkermansia, on the other hand, was selected to improve insulin sensitivity, total cholesterol and body composition.
An artificial intelligence (AI) model was also used to derive at the optimal dose and proportion of different probiotic strains used in the formulation.
The formulation was also validated against NUS’s patient cohort, with glycemic, lipid and hepatic endpoints as primary objectives, including body mass index (BMI), HbA1C, LDL-cholesterol, ALT/AST and fibrosis scores.
Prebiotics and postbiotics’ efficacy was also validated using AMILI’s functional microbiota assay - an ex vivo gut model using Asian stool donors.
Why metabolic health
Metabolic health was chosen as a point of focus for the R&D process as it is a main health challenge among Asians. It is also an area where there are opportunities for building products specific to Asian population needs.
“When we started this collaboration with NUH, the question was, what are the big challenges facing Asia, and where an Asia nuance is present,” said Dr Lim. “This was how we then decided to work on metabolic health, because even the World Health Organization recognizes that in Asians, our BMI thresholds are about 2.5 points lower for obesity and overweight compared to Western populations.”
In other words, two persons could have the same weight and height, but their BMIs would trigger different clinical interventions if one is an Asian and the other a non-Asian.
Moreover, metabolic health is a prevailing concern in Singapore, with diabetes, high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia common health conditions, Dr Lim pointed out.
According to Singapore’s Ministry of Health’s National Population Health Survey 2024, the proportion of residents with obesity rose from 10.5% in 2019-2020 to 12.7% in 2023-2024. Chronic disease also remains widespread, with around one in three residents living with high cholesterol, and a similar proportion with high blood pressure.
“Metabolic and fatty liver conditions are rising steadily in Singapore, and we know the gut microbiome plays an important role in how the body regulates them. Collaborations that combine clinical insights from Singaporean patients with microbiome science help deepen our understanding of how the gut microbiome may influence health and disease, and can contribute to the development of new approaches to support metabolic health in Asian populations,” said Associate Professor Dan Yock Young, senior consultant at the National University Centre for Digestive Health at NUH.
