InterMed Discovery Acquires Sustainable Source for Omega-3 Fatty Acid

“This new microbial source, in conjunction with our world-class technology platform, gives us the leading edge in this competitive market and further enhances the reputation of our functional ingredients business.”

20 Aug 2009 InterMed Discovery (IMD), a world class natural product lead-discovery company, announced the acquisition of unique microbial Omega-3 fatty acid production strains and related know-how from the University of Saarland. This innovative microbial source has the potential to produce Omega-3 more sustainably and reliably compared to established sources.

The two fatty acids EPA and DHA are particularly important and the concentrations of both and their ratios are directly related to the utility of Omega-3 in different therapeutic settings. At present, Omega-3 fatty acids, particularly those with high levels of EPA, are derived from fish. However, with dwindling fish populations and rising demand for Omega-3 the search for more sustainable alternatives has been on. In addition, fish is an unreliable source since the Omega-3 concentration can exhibit significant batch variation. This is also a problem with potential alternative sources such as algae, which generate mainly DHA while the yields for EPA are very low or even none at all.

The microbial strains that IMD has acquired are sustainable sources that generate reliably high yields of Omega-3 fatty acids, which significantly out-perform current sources. This source also offers a more favourable ratio between the fatty acids DHA and EPA. This is in turn expected to lead to the development of enhanced Omega-3 formulations allowing for outstanding and new product applications for the Pharma, Food and Dietary Supplement industries.

“These microbial strains offer not only a new sustainable and reliable source of Omega-3, but also give us the capability to develop products with outstanding quality at competitive pricing,“ said Bernard Becker, Managing Director of InterMed Discovery. “This new microbial source, in conjunction with our world-class technology platform, gives us the leading edge in this competitive market and  further enhances the reputation of our functional ingredients business.”

IMD will lead the collaborative research and development project with the team at the University of Saarland. Financial terms were not disclosed.