Brain Booster

An innovative health ingredient for ageing well

The Brainbooster project (FUI n°22) is a collaborative research programme, lasting 5 years (2016-2021), led by the company Abyss Ingredients (56), accompanied by its industrial and academic partners, La Maison Chancerelle (29), Diana Petfood (56), NutriNeuro (33) and LEMAR (29); labelled by the Valorial, Biotech Santé Bretagne and Pôle Mer Atlantique competitiveness clusters; and financially supported by BPI France, the Brittany Region, the Lorient agglomeration and the Finistère department.

What was the main objective of this collaborative innovation project?

Brainbooster aims to develop an innovative health ingredient, scientifically and clinically objectified for the nutraceutical and petfood markets, and more particularly for the ageing market. It will also contribute to the structuring of a sustainable sector for the valorisation of marine co-products at regional level via the development of innovative health ingredients, a source of added value for all the players concerned.

What is its innovative character?

Brainbooster’s innovative character is based on the best use of marine co-products, which are currently little used, while using ecologically friendly extraction processes, thus meeting a sustainable development objective.

Above all, it is a question of scientific validation of proof of effectiveness through preclinical and clinical studies. Today, three scientific articles on the first results obtained have been published in renowned journals, a patent has been filed in France and internationally, and the human clinical study is underway.

And its spin-offs ?

The BrainBooster project has enabled Abyss Ingredients to strengthen its position as a supplier of natural, innovative, scientifically objectified solutions for the ageing of men and sold on the food supplement market.

From a scientific point of view, the project has enabled the generation of new scientific knowledge, from the in vitro study to the human clinical study via the in vivo model, resulting in the acceptance of 3 scientific publications and a patent application.

As far as the local economy is concerned, for Abyss Ingredients, the development of this new ingredient will generate profits for its manufacturing supplier, with a growing increase in volumes. As for marine co-products, discussions are underway with several local suppliers who would like to set up the collection of co-products from fish of interest.

From an economic point of view, the Mnemosyss® ingredient developed has aroused the interest of our customers and is now in the hands of the sales team which provides support and follow-up for our customers in their development of finished products.

Finally, this project has been a lever for the development of the Abyss Ingredients teams. Indeed, the R&D team has been strengthened with the recruitment of Mathilde Chataigner, following the completion of her doctorate in Nutrition (Cifre thesis carried out within the framework of BrainBooster). The economic spin-offs will also allow the development of our sales team, with an international influence.

Where are you today?

Today, the project has been finalised since the end of 2021. During the Vitafoods trade fair (the nutraceutical trade fair) last October, we launched the commercial ingredient resulting from this project, which is called Mnemosyss® for Abyss Ingredients. It was awarded the Innovation Prize in December 2021 at the FIE (Food Ingredients Europe) trade fair in Frankfurt, by Business France, Bpifrance and the PAI Club – People for Food additives & ingredients.

In our business, the commercial launch of a new ingredient always takes time because our customers, the formulators, need to be able to test the ingredient and develop their finished product. What is certain is that the latter is of great interest, particularly in terms of cognitive decline. The ball is now in the hands of the sales team!

As for the next steps, we have launched a 2-year R&D programme, the Optimyss project (within the framework of the Plan France Relance), with the aim of continuing to optimise the ingredient from a technical, dose and organoleptic point of view, with a view to meeting our customers’ expectations as much as possible.

You are involved in this collaborative innovation project with several partners: what does collaborative innovation mean to you?

Collaborative innovation is the best because the partners’ interests are well understood and integrated, each with their own field of competence and expertise. The synergy between the partners provides a real leverage effect, and therefore maximises the chances of results. The contribution of Valorial, with Hélène Le Pocher (Biotech Santé Bretagne) and Régis Del Frate, represents a real support to the consortium, with competence and benevolence. It is the binding force and the very structure of the project!

The entire Abyss Ingredients team is very proud to have supported this project which is in line with our core business, namely sustainable marine ingredients for health and well-being applications. This positive and enriching experience has given the company the desire to continue its R&D work in a collaborative research and skills sharing approach. A new collaborative project is also in the pipeline, still supported by the competitiveness clusters.