South Korea's Ildong Bioscience, a leading company in the field of lactobacillus technology, has secured a patent for probiotics that effectively prevents obesity in pets.
The registered patent was for a “composition for preventing or treating pet obesity, including Enterococcus fascium IDC 2102”, which is a strain of intestinal microbial bacterium derived from the feces of breastfeeding infants. It can reduce intestinal inflammatory factors, promote the growth of beneficial bacteria and support weight loss.
Ildong Bioscience revealed that in their experiment involving 12 beagles that ate food mixed with IDC 2102 for 9 weeks, the dogs improved their body composition, obesity indicators and inflammation-related factors in their blood. The levels of adiponectin, a hormone involved in fatty acid decomposition, also showed improvement, the company said.
With their expertise in lactobacillus technology, Ildong Bioscience plans to incorporate IDC 2102 on future pet food products, feed additives, pet snacks and pet supplement drugs. The company has an extensive collection of over 6,000 strains of probiotics that allowed them to roll out the Ildong Pet Probiotics Biovita line of pet products.
Meanwhile, Ildong Foodis, a subsidiary within the Ildong Group of Companies recently introduced a separate line of animal nutritional supplement called Foodis Pet. The products are formulated to address health issues related to a dog's or a cat's intestines, joints, eyes and their overall immunity.
South Korean pharmaceuticals crowding the pet supplement space
Ildong joins several other South Korean pharmaceutical companies that have lately entered the pet supplement space due to high demand, by creating new animal business divisions or by partnering with animal healthcare experts. Some of these companies are:
- Yuhan Corporation, South Korea’s largest pharmaceutical company, which partnered with GNT Pharma for its canine cognitive disorder medicine called GedaCure. Yuhan also have partnerships with SB Bio Pharm and NeoDin BioVet, maker of animal medicines and provider of animal health diagnostic service, respectively.
- CMG Pharmaceutical, which acquired ING Medix, a domestic animal nutritional supplement provider. CMG plans to create a new division dedicated to pet medicines.
- Daewoong Pharmaceutical, a public company that caters to both domestic and international markets, has formed Daewoong Pet to develop health supplements for dogs. It is reportedly now working on a canine tablet medicine for Type-2 diabetes to be called Envlo.
- Cell Biotech, a probiotic company, has developed a chewable supplement (Duo Pet Lactic Acid Bacteria by Duolac) that can help pets improve their internal microbial conditions.
Aside from profitability, a possible major change in government policy is driving South Korean pharmaceutical firms to enter the pet market. A committee for regulation evaluation under the Office for Government Policy Coordination has suggested allowing the production of animal drugs in the same facility used for human drugs—allowing drug companies to kill two birds with one stone.
