Introduction

Clinical Trials for Foods and Supplements; Guidance for Industry

Symposium, Limerick 28th September 2012 [ CLICK HERE ]

Pharmabiotics - any material (including microbes or molecules) originating from the gut ecosystem that can be exploited for a health benefit – are of relevance to a broad selection of industry sectors; functional foods, medicinal foods, sports nutrition, infant nutrition, health supplements, animal husbandry, healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics and medical imaging and screening. Therefore the APC is well poised to collaborate with many different industry sectors.

The APC is keen to engage with industry in a manner that exploits the expertise, assets and know how of companies and that of the APC, in order to add value to their R&D programmes. This can be achieved through a variety of possible means; from small proof-of-concept projects to large scale collaborations, by accessing the APC Platform Technologies, such as human studies or BioIT; or through interacting directly with the research cores. Alternatively, companies may wish to avail of other APC expertise, such as preclinical models and screening/bioprospecting.

The APC has recently branded its Human Intervention Studies platform as Atlantia Food CRO. This platform provides a comprehensive end-to-end solution for human intervention studies for functional ingredients in foods, nutraceuticals, medical foods, dietary supplements and infant formula.

The APC currently has a number of technology opportunities available for commercialisation:

• Omega-3-Bifido - Probiotic to elevate Omega-3 & CLA body levels
• CF Phage - Therapeutic to treat cystic fibrosis lung infections
• Live 5 - 5 Microbe animal feed additive for promoting growth & good health
• Super 'Nisin' Bacteriocins - derivatives with enhanced antimicrobial activity
• SAFEFORMULA - infant formula safe from E.sakazakii

The APC prides itself on its outstanding research quality‚ intellectual breadth and great flexibility in responding to new research opportunities and avenues. We have an extensive track record in working collaboratively with the food, biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. Our existing industry partners are Alimentary Health Ltd., an Irish biotech SME, and GlaxoSmithKline, a multinational pharmaceutical company. We also have many other collaborations with biotechnology, pharmaceutical and food companies. The development and protection of intellectual property (IP) is the key to the successful commercial exploitation of research. The APC has a dedicated Intellectual Property Co-ordinator to capture and protect all Centre IP and facilitate its exploitation, and a Commercialisation and Intellectual Property Committee (CIPC).

The APC works in tandem with Irish agencies, such as Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland (EI), and with interested company, to access appropriate funding mechanisms.