New partnership in vaginal health

Probi^® and Tervisetehnoloogiate Arenduskeskus AS, Estonia, also known as the Competence Centre on Health Technologies (CCHT), have recently signed a long-term R&D collaboration agreement. The aim is to develop novel products based on probiotic lactobacilli strains, using a unique and proprietary bacterial strain library. The collaboration expects to introduce scientifically validated probiotics with benefits for gynecological health.

Vaginal infections - one of the most common reasons for gynecological consultations
70% of all women are estimated to experience at least one episode of yeast infection and 30% will suffer from bacterial vaginosis (inflammation caused by bacteria). In many cases women will also suffer from recurrent episodes^1,2. Common for many vaginal infections are a disturbance of the vaginal microbiota where the normal protective lactobacilli dominated microbiota has been disrupted.

Traditional treatment options have been centered around antibiotics and antifungals to get rid of the infection, but without focus on reestablishing a healthy balanced vaginal microbiota. In some cases, this is causing an even more severe disruption. Vaginal probiotics may have an important role in establishing healthy microbial communities in a natural way and in thereby helping maintain vaginal health.

Probiotics are well established as having health benefits within vaginal health. As much as 77% of all new vaginal health supplement launches in 2020 contained probiotics³. With a clear consumer need there is a great opportunity for new scientifically validated probiotics in the market.

References:
1 Yano, J. et al. (2019) BMC Women's Health 19 (48). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-019-0748-8
2 Peebles, K et al. (2019) Sexually Transmitted Diseases 46(5):304-311
3 Innova Market Insights, November 2020 report from Innova Database