Roquette Ventures invests in Advanced Protein Technologies, to accelerate development of human milk oligosaccharides

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Roquette Ventures (Lestrem, France) and Advanced Protein Technologies (AP Technologies; Suwon, South Korea), a bio venture company developing human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), have signed an agreement to work together on the development of new human breast milk components.

"This investment from Roquette Ventures confirms the strong interest of our differentiated technology to offer promising new ingredients of human breast milk. Korea is therefore securing a cutting-edge technology for human milk oligosaccharides that will be mainly applied to food and pharmaceuticals,” said Chul Shoo, Shin, CEO of AP Technologies, in a press release. “AP Technologies will be able to contribute to the health of the people in Korea through supplying a highly-functional food ingredient while reducing the reliance on imports of these important ingredients. By collaborating with Roquette Ventures, we will expand to export our product internationally and step up to earn a place as a global natural-based food leader in the long run."

“This investment represents an important collaboration for us,” added Edouard Nuttin, general manager of Roquette Ventures, in a press release. “As long-term strategic partner, we are driven by a strong desire to support pioneering innovations and to contribute to accelerating their development. AP Technologies has a great growth potential and we are very pleased to be part of this journey to better answer food, health, and nutrition markets expectations worldwide. AP Technologies’ HMOs will definitely bring unique advantages and benefits to consumers.”

AP Technologies licensed the production technology of 2’-FL, an HMO, in 2016 from the team led by Professor Seo Jin Ho in Seoul National University in 2016 based on a unique proven safety technology using Corynebacterium glutamicum. AP Technologies is developing cutting edge technology to secure higher productivity and cost competitiveness. The HMO production technology patents have already been secured in Korea and will be filed in the USA, Europe, China, Japan and India. According to a press release, AP Technologies' ingredient is set to achieve GRAS status from FDA by the first quarter of 2020. The firm also expects to receive approvals from the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the European EFSA (European Food Safety   Authority) by 2020 while continuing registration efforts in Asia (China, Vietnam, Thailand, India, etc.), EAEU (Russia), and Latin America (Brazil, etc.).

After establishing its position in the food and health industry, AP Technologies intends to embark on its long-term plans of entering the cosmetic, nutraceuticals, pet food, and pharmaceutical market with products that generate immune activation, brain development and synergistic effects of the gut microbiome.