Danish biosolutions company Bactolife has entered the US market through its first commercial partnership with Healthgevity, with the company’s Helm Binding Proteins technology incorporated into a new dietary supplement.

The launch of GUTgevity marks the first US commercial application of the technology and represents Bactolife’s first US commercial brand partnership.

Bactolife says its Helm Binding Proteins represent a new class of bioactive ingredients designed to bind and neutralise compounds in the gut and support a healthy gut environment.

The company positions the technology alongside, rather than as a replacement for, established microbiome-focused ingredients such as probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics.

Adding another mechanism to gut health

According to Bactolife, gut-health innovation has traditionally focused on introducing beneficial microorganisms or providing substrates to support the microorganisms already present in the gut.

Its Binding Protein approach is intended to provide an additional mechanism, with applications focused on gut balance, gut barrier integrity and microbiome stability.

Bactolife describes the concept through a “Seed, Feed and Defend” framework, where beneficial microbes are introduced, the gut environment is supported and additional mechanisms are used to help maintain that environment.

“Going beyond biotics does not mean replacing them,” said Sebastian Søderberg, CEO of Bactolife. “Binding Proteins are designed to complement existing microbiome-focused solutions while addressing a different part of the gut health equation.”

First commercial application

Healthgevity is using Bactolife’s Helm IgG Binding Protein LT in GUTgevity, a dietary supplement developed around six mechanisms intended to support a healthy and balanced gut ecosystem.

The partnership gives Bactolife an initial commercial application for its technology in the US healthcare practitioner channel, while providing a route to evaluate how the ingredient platform can be incorporated into consumer health products.

Michael Antonelli, founder and CEO of Healthgevity, said the partnership gives healthcare practitioners access to a new mechanism through Helm Binding Proteins, which the company believes can provide an additional layer of gut-health support.

From supplements to food and beverage

While the initial commercial application is a dietary supplement, Bactolife says it is developing Helm Binding Proteins as a platform for wider use across dietary supplements and functional foods and beverages.

The company identifies stability, low inclusion rates and versatility as characteristics intended to support use in different product formats.

This could create opportunities for manufacturers looking to develop gut-health products without relying exclusively on traditional probiotic or prebiotic formulations.

The next stage of Bactolife’s commercial development will include engagement with food, beverage, nutrition and dietary supplement companies at SupplySide Global in October, where it will showcase the Helm Binding Protein technology.

Bactolife says its ongoing scientific research, intellectual property and development programmes are supporting its efforts to establish Binding Proteins as a distinct ingredient category within gut health.

The development points towards an expanding gut-health ingredient landscape in which different mechanisms may increasingly be combined within products rather than relying on a single microbiome-focused intervention.