AI discovers plant peptide that powers new supplement

An anti-aging supplement has launched featuring a plant-based peptide ingredient that is the fruit of an artificial intelligence (AI) platform used in a partnership between BASF and Irish firm Nuritas. 

The new supplement, branded as Performance Peptides, has been launched by Florida family-owned firm Designs for Health. The company announced the news on Wednesday, Oct. 9. 

The new product is billed as a “first-of-its-kind plant-based bioactive peptide formulated to promote muscle strength, endurance, recovery, retention and overall performance in aging men and women.”   

The new ingredient is branded as PeptiStrong. 

David M. Brady, N.D., Chief Medical Officer of Designs for Health, said the company saw an opportunity in the growing number of consumers who are using Ozempic and other weight loss medications. One issue identified with these approaches to weight loss has been the loss of muscle tissue along with excess weight. 

“As more individuals embrace GLP-1 weight loss plans, this product launch is perfectly timed to meet the growing demand for maintaining a healthy body composition and muscle retention,” Brady said. 

The new supplement features a 2.4 gram dose of PeptiStrong, which is composed of three distinct plant-based bioactive peptides derived from the fava bean (Vicia fava) that the supplier claims can support overall muscle homeostasis, endurance capacity as well as healthy skeletal muscle growth and retention. 

 High-powered partnership 

The new ingredient was developed as part of the BASF Human Nutrition-Nuritas partnership that was first announced in 2017. 

Peptides, small assemblages of amino acids, are essentially the shorter building blocks of protein molecules. There are estimated to be at least a million different protein molecules that exist in nature, each with its own unique arrangement of peptides. Each of these peptides potentially has unique effects when separated from the overall protein molecule. 

To efficiently sort through those possibilities, Nuritas said it used a proprietary artificial intelligence platform to identify bioactive peptides of interest and match them up with biochemical pathways in the body that could support human health. 

The ingredient has been supported with a study published in early 2023. The study was conducted on healthy young Irish men. The study’s major endpoint was a reduction in delayed-onset muscle soreness. The trial followed successful in vitro studies and a trial using a mouse model. 

“In this trial,” the authors wrote, “we have further shown that NPN_1 supplementation altered the plasma concentration of myokines associated with muscle health and/or glycogen metabolism, with a subsequent benefit for strength recovery. As such, NPN_1 represents a potential supplement to promote faster recovery following strenuous activity.” 

Nuritas, which was based in Dublin, has recently built a new headquarters in Connecticut and its founder and CEO, Dr. Nora Khaldi, relocated there. This came after a successful round of funding closed in 2022 that brought in $45 million. 

 AI on stage at SupplySide West 

An education session focuses on AI issues is scheduled for the SupplySide West trade show in late October. The session, titled AI powered precision: revolutionizing supplement supply chain and formulation, is scheduled for 9 to 10 AM on Wed., Oct. 30 in Islander Ballroom H in the Mandalay Bay Conference Center.