Probiotics – mighty little helpers at your service
Do you want to develop new microbial strains for your portfolio? Or improve the properties of your established product? With our proprietary collection of probiotic strains and a broad portfolio of technologies, we are your partner for evidence-based development of probiotic products for various applications and markets.
Probiotics (Latin “for life”) are living microorganisms having a health-promoting effect on humans and animals. The focus is primarily on intestinal health, which is why probiotics have been used in the food sector for over 50 years (so-called functional food). A few years ago, other applications were discovered: e.g. in cosmetics, in agriculture or in the household sector.
Not every probiotic strain is suitable for every application. In addition to bioactive efficacy, probiotics must meet certain stability criteria to be marketable for use in products. Here, spore formers often have an advantage: spores are extremely heat resistant and tolerate extreme pH values, high pressure and the presence of organic solvents. Spores are stable over the long term and reach their complete vitality after germination.
Probiotics are already contained in household products such as cleaning agents and air purifiers. They are also used in textiles and foams. They combat odors, support surface cleaning, prevent unwanted microbial growth, purify the air and impart other positive properties to the environment. Or let’s imagine further innovative applications, such as probiotics in paints.
In the agricultural sector, probiotics play a role primarily in biostimulation of growth, plant resilience, seed protection, micro- and macro-nutrition of the young plant, and nitrogen fixation in the root zone. The future market of "vertical farming" could also benefit from the use of probiotics.
Health and
well-being
Health and well-being
Probiotics are widely used in the field of health, e.g. to promote intestinal health, for weight management, to control individual cholesterol levels, to strengthen the immune system, for mental fitness and concentration or for therapeutic support of irritable bowel syndrome.
Healthy and
nutritious pet food
Healthy and nutritious pet food
Probiotics support the intestinal flora of farm animals and pets and protect them from pathogenic microorganisms. In this way, they actively improve the intestinal health of animals. With their secreted enzymes, probiotics also improve the animals' feed digestion and the absorption of the nutrients contained therein. Due to the improved nutrient absorption, the animals' immune system is strengthened, which in turn protects against pathogens and improves overall animal welfare.
Innovative
cosmetics
Innovative cosmetics
In the cosmetics industry, so-called postbiotic products with valuable ingredients in the form of killed microorganisms or microbial extracts are used. Postbiotics strengthen the individual skin microbiome, which in turn serves to care for and regenerate the skin and prevents premature skin aging.
Our resources and skills
Pre-characterized microbial strains
We have a set of selected and pre-characterized microbial strains. These are stable, safe and producible. Together with our partners, we are ready to further develop these strains into a probiotic product for customers – for a wide variety of applications and a wide variety of markets.
For further characterization, evaluation of performance for specific applications, optimization of properties and development of our own strains as well as customer strains, we offer – in addition to our broad microbiological and molecular biological expertise – our established technology platforms.
with new strains (e.g. Bacillus) to address existing and new markets and find new applications
Make existing microbial strains more stable, robust and efficient for specific applications
Assign new properties to existing microbial strains and thus address new markets
Probiotics: Optimize performance and/ or safety precisely as specified: using non-GMO processes (e.g. natural evolution and targeted genome editing without the use of foreign DNA).
Prebiotics: Modulate the gut or skin microbiome: by supporting commensal microorganisms using prebiotic preparations tailored to them (e.g. from edible plants).
Postbiotics: Release of postbiotics through inactivated cells or cell components, whose efficacy we can actively modulate and maximize through our knowledge of the strain and its manufacturing process.
We test your compounds and natural products for bioactivity. We determine prebiotic (inter-microbial) and host-specific activities or properties and open up opportunities for you to use these substances in other markets.
Work with us to develop customized and efficient combinations of next-generation prebiotics and probiotics.
Our concept is tailored to your field of application, as well as to the desired dosage form, taking into account the regulatory framework.
Find strains
Finding the right strain – where to start?
Select a probiotic strain from the BRAIN set
Perform targeted isolation from different habitats
Further develop one of your own strains
The choice is yours.
Screening & characterization
In-vitro assays that reflect natural habitat conditions provide insights into strain performance that are transferable to in vivo. To this end, we perform tests on the interaction between microorganisms as well as those on the interaction between host and microorganism. In addition to this, using our molecular genetic tools we can elucidate the mechanism of action as a basis for process and quality control and prioritize the best strains for in vivo testing.
Product manufacturing
The manufacturing process involves much more than just the generation of (bio)mass. This is the stage that decides whether the probiotic retains its active potential until it is used and then develops its potential to maximum effect.
Based on our knowledge of the mechanism of action, we establish the production process on a laboratory scale and optimize the process parameters. This gives us significant influence on the yield of a stable and active product in the subsequent manufacturing process.
Control (tracking)
With probiotics, your products become "living products". This requires individually tailored quality control, which we develop according to the regulations of your field of application.
Why work with us
more than 25 years of experience in handling microorganisms and many successfully completed contract developments
an established set of probiotic strains (regulatory established species), ready for development and commercialization in various applications
a broad technology portfolio
an integrated toolset — from isolation of strains, to optimization, to development of a ready-to-market product
experts in bacterial spore formers, esp. Bacillus
profound knowledge of microbiology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, cell culture, protein engineering and processes
scientists with an innovative mindset
committed contact persons, who will push your project forward quickly
a solution- and results-oriented team with an agile and flexible way of working
great passion for challenges and innovation
Interested in working with us?
Are you looking for a partner for product development - or a technology provider for characterization and optimization of existing products? We can do both! Contact us to find out how we can support you.
BRAINstorming 
Find strains
Screening & characterization
Product manufacturing
Control (tracking)