One of the world’s largest nutrition companies, Nestlé, is collaborating with Helaina Inc., an emerging biotechnology innovator from the USA, to study bioactive proteins and their role in early-life development. The Nestlé and Helaina partnership will be a multi-year deal aiming to provide science-based nutritional solutions for infants.
The partnership combines Nestlé’s decades of expertise in infant nutrition with Helaina’s biotechnology platform for producing human-identical proteins.
Nestlé and Helaina Partnership Focuses on Bioactive Proteins
The new Nestlé and Helaina partnership is centered on understanding how bioactive proteins can support healthy growth and development during infancy.
Bioactive proteins are naturally occurring compounds that do more than provide nutrition. Researchers believe they can influence immune function, gut health, and other biological processes important during early life.
According to Nestlé, the collaboration will contribute to its ongoing efforts to translate scientific discoveries into nutritional solutions with specific health benefits.
“Nestlé has always been at the forefront of advancing scientific knowledge on key nutrients and bioactives that are important during early life,” said Isabelle Bureau-Franz, Head of the Nestlé Product Technology Center for Nutrition & Health.
She added that partnerships with external innovators are an important part of the company’s strategy to deepen scientific understanding while gaining access to emerging technologies.
How Will The Nestlé and Helaina Deal Work?
The Nestlé Helaina bioactive proteins collaboration combines complementary strengths from both organizations.
Nestlé contributes:
- Extensive expertise in early-life nutrition research
- Product development capabilities
- More than 30 years of research into human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and bioactive ingredients
- Advanced nutrition science and analytics
Helaina contributes:
- Biotechnology expertise
- Precision fermentation technology
- Manufacturing capabilities for human-identical proteins
- Clinical research supporting bioactive ingredients
The companies will work together to explore new opportunities in infant nutrition while expanding scientific knowledge about protein-based bioactives.
What is Helaina’s Human-Identical Lactoferrin Technology
In the Nestlé and Helaina partnership, Helaina Inc. is bringing its flagship ingredient, Effera, a human-identical form of lactoferrin.
Lactoferrin is a protein naturally found in human breast milk and is known for supporting immune health, maintaining balanced iron levels, and promoting gastrointestinal health. While lactoferrin is also found in cow’s milk, human lactoferrin exists at significantly higher concentrations and has structural differences that may affect how it functions in the body.
Helaina produces precision-fermented lactoferrin using a biotechnology process called precision fermentation. In this, specially selected microorganisms are used to produce proteins that are structurally identical to those found in humans.
According to Helaina, this approach can provide a more consistent and scalable supply of human-identical proteins compared with traditional sources.
“We believe new bioactive proteins present a significant innovation in nutrition right now,” said Laura Katz, Founder and CEO of Helaina. “We’re focused on manufacturing these bioactives at scale with clinical credibility.”
Conclusion
The Nestlé and Helaina partnership could help accelerate the development of next-generation nutrition products designed. It will also more closely reflect the biological properties of human milk.
While the collaboration remains focused on scientific research and discovery, it demonstrates how nutrition companies are increasingly turning to biotechnology to address longstanding challenges in infant nutrition.
