“Over these 50 years, we now have advanced from extracting biomolecules of animal origin to creating totally different purposes,” Luis Solera, CEO, informed NutraIngredients.
“We’ve been evolving with the market, and I believe a part of the worth we convey is that we deal with these nutraceuticals the identical method we deal with pharmaceutical merchandise.”
Round economic system mannequin
Bioiberica operates with a round economic system mannequin which is centered round maximizing worth and repurposing byproducts, Solera defined.
The corporate’s basis was linked to heparin manufacturing, a pharmaceutical ingredient for thrombosis utility. Nonetheless, in producing heparin, solely 0.01% of the uncooked materials is utilized.
As a way to “get essentially the most” out of biomolecules from animal origin, Bioiberica progressed into creating totally different purposes from the uncooked supplies. For instance, the corporate’s Collavant n2, a local kind II collagen ingredient, is a high-value collagen derived from rooster sternums.
As Solera famous, by giving worth to all uncooked supplies, Bioiberica has been in a position to increase from pharmaceutical Lively Pharmaceutical Elements (APIs) into nutraceuticals, animal diet and biostimulants for agriculture.
To make this sustainable, the corporate strives to deeply perceive market wants and tendencies whereas relying closely on scientific analysis, Antonio Vendrell, advertising director, added.
“On one hand, as an organization, there’s all the time the ambition to provide as many useful substances as doable,” he stated.
“However on the similar time, you must keep targeted, as a result of with out focus, it turns into troublesome to make issues possible.”
Product growth
As Javier Velasco-Alvarez, high quality and R&D director stated, Bioiberica leverages its management of uncooked supplies to develop substances like Collavant n2, very a lot guided by market tendencies and superior scientific analysis.
“We maintain a powerful place within the worth chain of animal-derived substances,” stated Javier Velasco-Alvarez, high quality and R&D director.
“Our key query is all the time, what are the potential substances we will produce from the uncooked supplies we management? After all, we benchmark the market. As an illustration, we entered the collagen area round ten years in the past, recognizing that collagen is a rising sector.
“In that case, we selected to pursue the highest-value type. We produce native kind II collagen from rooster sternum. From that uncooked materials, we’ve carried out numerous research to show its efficacy.”
He defined that the corporate’s analysis utilises genomics, proteomics, metabolomics to analyze the character of its substances and the affect it would have in actual phrases.
As Daniel Martínez Puig, head of R&D human well being defined, the important thing driver in Bioiberica’s analysis is to reply the query, “What are the organic targets the place our substances may have the best profit? And what’s the mechanism of motion behind the consequences we observe?”
Within the case of Collavant n2, a recent study was carried out in wholesome people experiencing joint discomfort attributable to bodily exercise.
“We demonstrated that supplementation with Collavant n2 results in enhancements in joint consolation and high quality of life,” Martínez Puig stated.
Collagen confusion and certification
As Monica Gomez Navarro, advertising supervisor of branded substances informed NutraIngredients, there’s nonetheless a whole lot of confusion surrounding collagen. That is demonstrated by latest information from an business survey carried out at Vitafoods in 2024 and revealed through the 2025 iteration of the occasion in Barcelona throughout Bioiberica’s ‘Collagen Symposium’.
“The outcomes from this survey had been very shocking, as we noticed that despite the fact that 84% of business professionals know that collagen performs a task in joint well being, just one in two knew which sort of collagen was greatest for joint well being,” she stated.
“So, I actually assume this confirms that this can be a class the place there’s nonetheless a whole lot of confusion, and it’s vital to make clear the several types of collagen and educate the market in an effort to dispel all this confusion.”
Bioiberica has now change into the primary collagen producer to obtain NutraStrong Collagen Verification for its Collavant n2, a certification issued by SGS Nutrasource. It’s Gomez Navarro’s hope that with this certification, manufacturers will be capable to differentiate their merchandise in a aggressive market in addition to educate formulators about differentiation in collagen high quality.
The NutraStrong program, which is supported by the Collagen Stewardship Alliance, exists to determine clearer requirements within the collagen business.
