UC Davis and BioInnovation Institute Team Up to Improve Protein Nutrition on a Global Scale

Originally Posted by UC Davis News & Information
By Harold Schmitz

The University of California, Davis today announced an expanded collaboration with the BioInnovation Institute (BII) to accelerate commercialization of discoveries in protein nutrition important to consumers around the world.

Funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, BII is a Denmark-based nonprofit institute committed to helping entrepreneurs commercialize great ideas in life science that can improve human and planetary health. BII has identified UC Davis as a strategic collaborator in protein and global health. UC Davis researchers are pioneering new solutions to develop more nutritious foods and fight global hunger.

“Protein is a key driver for business growth in the global food industry, and protein nutrition is also a key challenge for improving health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries around the world,” said Christian Tillegreen, director of planetary health at BII. Tilllegreen is a keynote speaker at this week’s UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health (IIFH) Partner Summit in Davis.

“Protein nutrition has always been a challenge in many parts of the world,” said Justin Siegel, professor of molecular medicine at UC Davis and faculty director of IIFH. “Now with the wildly successful introduction of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy treating obesity and metabolic health concerns, protein nutrition for maintaining lean body mass presents new innovation opportunities in the food tech startup community.”

Siegel is a cofounder of Digestiva, a startup based on a UC Davis invention making better protein nutrition more affordable for all consumers. He also leads the U.S. Center of Excellence for the Periodic Table of Food Initiative, a consortium spearheaded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the American Heart Association that is committed to better understanding the molecular composition of foods, including their protein composition.

Tillegreen’s BII team has identified and enabled a growing list of startups and translational research projects based on life science breakthroughs, including MATR Foods and Yeti Foods. Both are working to develop protein-based food products that are healthy and environmentally sustainable. Recently, a team of UC Davis MBA students completed a project that researched and evaluated product and market options for Yeti Foods’ new alternative protein.

“Yeti Foods is developing mycelium food products specifically targeting the U.S. market. So, leveraging the BII collaboration with UC Davis and the unique focus of their MBA program on the food business was an easy way of getting quality early market data,” said Tue Rasmussen, entrepreneur in residence at BioInnovation Institute for the Yeti Foods project.

Tillegreen is happy to see that one of the projects in BII’s Bio Studio program is already benefiting from the collaboration with UC Davis.

“UC Davis is world renowned for its food- and agriculture-focused life science research and IIFH is an ideal fit with BII as a collaborator focused on creating and accelerating new scientific-based startups making food healthier for people and the planet,” Tillegreen said. “BII is excited to be in the final stages of agreeing to our first projects with IIFH to enable entrepreneurs and startups passionate about human and planetary health, including better protein nutrition.”

BII has in recent years established strategic collaborations with Ferring Pharmaceuticals and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation focused on women’s health, and Siegel is excited about the possibilities that more extensive collaborations may yield. 

“BII and IIFH both have strong links with world leading academic institutions, key industrial players and philanthropies that care deeply about global health and nutrition,” Siegel said. “Hopefully, we can use these links to catalyze game-changing collaborations that have a global impact.”