USA – Dutch multinational Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living company Royal DSM has acquired eubiotics firm Midori USA, Inc. (“Midori”) to bolster its sustainable farming portfolio.
According to a statement from DSM, the company already owns 38.5% of the shares of Midori. The recent deal saw the company acquire the remaining 61.5% for a consideration of US$63m.
Midori is a biotechnology start-up with a novel precision platform developing breakthrough targeted eubiotics that improve the health and environmental impact of animals.
The Boston Massachusetts-based startup has developed a technology platform that identifies glycans derived from natural food sugars that can precisely modulate how the gut microbiome functions in animals.
DSM notes that these glycans provide an effective and consistent impact on animal gut health, leading to improved nutrient utilization from feed and improved animal health.
“Such eubiotics can reduce the environmental footprint of animal farming and support the accelerated replacement of antibiotics in animal feed,” DSM said.
The use of eubiotics has grown significantly as farming practices shift to become more sustainable and along with the need to provide antibiotic alternatives.
According to FAO, the total emissions from global livestock: 7.1 Gigatonnes of Co2-equiv per year, representing 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions.
On a commodity basis, FAO says beef and cattle milk are responsible for the most emissions, respectively, contributing 41 percent and 20 percent of the sector’s overall GHG outputs.
As consumers increasingly become environmentally conscious, animal products have rapidly lost their market share to plant-based and cell-cultured alternatives which have far less impacts on the environment.
A recent KPMG study recently highlighted environmental concern as one of the major factors fuelling rapid growth in the market for plant based milk alternatives (+18% in 2019), such as soya, almond and oat milks, in the UK at the expense of cows’ milk.
For livestock production to have a place in the food of the future, solutions such as the ones provided by Midori are essential.
DSM says that Midori’s platform is highly synergetic with its bioscience capability and current eubiotics portfolio, which was further strengthened through the acquisition of Biomin (as part of the Erber Group).
DSM will launch its first targeted glycan – Symphiome™ – later this year. This unique eubiotic will be the first product from DSM’s collaboration with Midori.
According to the company, Symphiome will leverage functional modulation of the gut microbiome to improve the gut health, feed efficiency, and welfare of poultry, while reducing the use of antibiotics and lowering the environmental emissions of poultry farming.
Symphiome™ will be the second novel mode of action eubiotic product that DSM will bring to the market after the successful launch of Balancius®, a breakthrough innovation that improves the overall digestive health of animals.
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