Spotlight on nutrition and pharma start-ups to support GLP-1 consumers

The rise of GLP-1 medications for metabolic health and weight loss is sparking innovations in nutrition and pharmaceuticals. Start-ups, alongside established companies, are developing products to enhance the effectiveness of these drugs and manage their side effects, such as gut health and reduced food intake. 

Nutrition Insight explores start-ups in the nutrition and pharmaceutical industries and their products supporting GLP-1 users, highlighting opportunities for collaboration to create an ecosystem of solutions for people on these medications. 

Bactolife’s binding proteins support gut health, which is a common side effect of GLP-1s. Meanwhile, Amplifye developed an enzyme that enhances protein absorption when consumed with a protein-containing meal, and Supercede Therapeutics is in preclinical development of a small molecule to treat obesity.

Sandra Wingaard Thrane, CSO and co-founder of Bactolife, says the company combines biotechnology know-how from the Danish ecosystem with a deep knowledge of proteins, immunoglobulins, microbes, and the immune system.

“We developed binding proteins — functional food proteins you can use daily to support a healthy gut microbiota. They target, bind, and gently flush out harmful metabolites and microbes that disrupt the gut.”

Wingaard Thrane says it’s an “amazingly exciting” time to work in gut health, as consumers are increasingly aware of its importance and how it differs among individuals. She notes that the growing use of GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic, is driving this interest.

“There’s now an awareness about gut cell receptors, where there was little to no awareness five or ten years ago. I think that’s a huge opportunity to provide new value and have precision products.”

“This is a new avenue to communicate about your products — talk about how they support healthy gut microbiota, help heal from harmful things, and are part of your metabolism. People can now see all these connections, whether they are related to gut axes, satiety, or depression.”

In a previous interview, Bactolife detailed how its binding protein ingredients neutralize harmful gut metabolites and pathogens.She underscores that because these medications merge nutrition and medicine, GLP-1 users should adapt their nutrition habits to support healthy, long-term weight loss.

Food or pharma for GLP-1

The rise in GLP-1s has also sparked interest in exploring how nutrition and supplements can affect its secretion. For example, Nutrition Insight previously caught up with Rousselot about its specific collagen peptide, Nextida GC, which helps the body produce more of the hormone.

At the same time, dietary interventions cannot match the response from medications. Estimates indicate that the hormone’s blood concentration is around 1,000 times higher than natural GLP-1 levels.

Wingaard Thrane notes the gap between food and drugs is still very large. “But it could be exciting to try to bridge that gap and figure out strategies for other ways of supporting people so they don’t necessarily have to be on that drug for the rest of their lives. There’s a tendency to think of drugs and food separately, but that’s not how the world works.”

She expects that there will be interest in comparing GLP-1s with food-based interventions in the future, although these trials are difficult to conduct, as food-based interventions include healthy participants, whereas drugs aim to treat sick ones. “But in reality, a lot of people are in that space in between.”

She calls on regulators and other stakeholders to enable studies that combine different approaches and better understand them to meet consumer needs, “making novel solutions that also bridge pharma, nutrition, dietary interventions, supplements, and drugs.”

Secondary market potential

Courtney McHugh, CCO and co-founder of Amplifye, highlights the potential for developing secondary products for GLP-1 medications.

“I think of GLP-1 in the same way that I look back at what the iPhone did to technology,” she comments. “There’s an entire secondary market ecosystem that can come out of breakthrough technology.”

She notes that Amplifye’s first commercial product, P24, contains a proprietary enzyme that hydrolyzes protein, which can complement GLP-1 use. By taking this with food, consumers can absorb more protein from their diet.

We met with Amplifye’s CCO McHugh to explore how its science-backed enzyme capsule helps consumers double their protein absorption.McHugh suggests several secondary market opportunities for complementary products for patients taking these medications. “You have to solve for their energy levels being lower because they’re not getting enough food intake. They need nutrient-dense foods with fewer calories and better-for-you meals. They also probably have some gut and digestive issues or are more aware of their microbiome.”

She observes a “huge opportunity” for companies and brands to partner to create a secondary market that meets GLP-1 consumer needs within one ecosystem, from food and supplements to exercise to build muscle mass.

“It’s not just about innovation in any one category — it’s about thinking bigger and exploring what product could align with this type of drug, maybe even involving pharmaceutical companies.”

Drug developments

On the pharmaceutical side, lan Zipkin, Ph.D., CEO of Supercede Therapeutics, highlights that obesity drugs are not new, as the US FDA approved several products over the last 20–25 years.

However, he says these all had issues, for example, in tolerability, safety risk, cost, or patient acceptability. “The history has been one of more commercial failures than successes.”

“The difference with GLP-1s is that there are clearly established commercial opportunities that are not going away. Now, money can flood into better ways of achieving the same ending.”

Supercede Therapeutics is in the preclinical stage of development of STX-001, a novel, oral small-molecule inhibitor of the activin receptor type II (ACTRII) enzyme, for the treatment of obesity. Inhibiting the ACTRII signaling pathway has been clinically shown to significantly reduce fat while preserving or increasing lean body mass.

“Importantly, this mechanism is not just dependent on the suppression of appetite, but regulates tissue growth at the individual tissue level — whether that’s fat, adipose, or muscle,” underscores Zipkin.

Supercede Therapeutics is developing a molecule that could ultimately complement and even replace it, and could also be used in weight maintenance.“My start-up is developing what would ultimately be a drug that’s not only complementary to a GLP-1, but could potentially replace it and could also be used in a maintenance setting.”

He predicts that once there is a better understanding of different combination therapies with other mechanisms that can complement or replace GLP-1 for more effective weight loss, food technology and nutrition will play an even larger role.

“I think we’ve finally got a snowball that’s going downhill and can pick up a lot of steam,” he notes. “The momentum is here.”

Merging pharma with nutrition

McHugh from Amplifye notes that while pharmaceutical companies may have been reluctant to create a consumer-facing brand, there hasn’t been an opportunity where a drug matches a consumer need so effectively.

“I think in the next three years, you’ll see a large partnership be announced or formed within the pharmaceutical sector,” she predicts. “I can imagine a world in which Ozempic has licensed out an Ozempic-approved snack, and you look for that checkmark, just like we did with organic labels. We’re now all trained to look for ‘organic.’”

Supercede Therapeutics’ Zipkin highlights that these partnerships between pharmaceuticals and nutrition would benefit from motivation and scientific research from the nutritional side on how a product can help patients on GLP-1s.

“You can’t avoid the overlap with nutrition in what that patient or subject is experiencing — whether they’re reducing their appetite, what diet they’re eating, how that’s affecting their gut health, and how that’s affecting their muscle biology.”

While Supercede Therapeutics doesn’t have a product that addresses all those issues right now, Zipkin says he welcomes collaborations with other products that address those elements of patient health as they become more essential.