Lotte Food Signs Probiotic Technology Agreement with Chung-Ang University for Anti-Diabetes and Stress Improvement

Secured 2.3 Billion KRW Government Project from 2018 under Microbial Genome Strategy Research Group, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
Development of Probiotic Material Reducing Blood Sugar and Stress Symptoms

(From left) Jinseong Lee, CEO of Lotte Foods; Wonyong Kim, Professor at Chung-Ang University College of Medicine; and Kyeonghwon Lee, Head of Lotte Central Research Institute, are taking a commemorative photo after signing a technology agreement for anti-diabetes and stress-improving probiotics at the Lotte Foods headquarters in Yangpyeong-dong, Seoul, on the 9th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Lotte Food announced on the 10th that it signed a "Probiotic Technology Agreement for Anti-Diabetes and Stress Improvement in Pasteur Balanced Nutrition Research and Development" with Lotte Central Research Institute and Chung-Ang University on the 9th.

This agreement concerns the joint research on probiotic technology conducted after Lotte and Chung-Ang University were selected for a government-supported research project. Since 2018, under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' Microbial Genome Strategy Research Project, Professor Won-Yong Kim of Chung-Ang University has led the project with participation from Lotte Food and Lotte Central Research Institute, conducting joint research.

Over four years, with an investment of approximately 2.3 billion KRW, the research proceeded through processes including candidate strain discovery, microbiome efficacy evaluation, animal testing, raw material development, and efficacy verification by formulation. As a result, a new probiotic material capable of lowering blood sugar and stress symptoms by regulating the gut microbiome was developed, with patents registered and numerous research results published in international journals.

Through this agreement, Lotte Food plans to make a full-scale entry into the healthcare food market targeting the senior demographic. According to data from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the number of diabetes patients receiving treatment in Korea exceeded 3 million in 2019 and continues to increase steadily. It is expected that differentiated balanced nutrition products will be possible through future clinical trials and product application processes.

Additionally, this signifies a full-scale entry into the microbiome-related market, considered the next-generation food industry. The microbiome, consisting of approximately 100 trillion microorganisms and their genes present in the human body, is known to be linked to about 90% of disease mechanisms, making it a technology called a game changer in healthcare.

Jin-Sung Lee, CEO of Lotte Food, said, “We are about to develop lactic acid bacteria materials with differentiated functionalities, which have great potential for future applications,” and added, “We will continue research cooperation to increase lifecycle-customized products that can respond to demographic changes.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.