DSM targets personalised nutrition advances in Japan following DeNA Life Science link-up

02-May-2018 - Last updated on 02-May-2018 at 02:09 GMT

DSM believes that personalised nutrition is gaining pace across the region. ©iStock

DSM Japan is to begin working with with DeNA Life Science as it seeks to expand its activity in the personalised nutrition space, and better understand what services consumers want after they receive data based on their DNA.

DeNA Life Science's strengths lie in digital services development and operations, including the genetic testing service MYCODE.

DSM believes that aligning this with its food and nutrition know-how can lead to more tailored and personal health solutions.

DSM said in a statement: "Through this collaboration, DSM and DeNA Life Science aim to develop new healthcare services that enable users to be conscious of their daily health, and lead to transformation of users' lifestyle by providing personalised information on each user's life logs and nutritional status, and giving advice on meals and exercise.

"As the initial stage of developing healthcare services, DSM and DeNA Life Science plan to conduct a questionnaire survey from June 2018 for members of MYCODE, provided by DeNA Life Science.

"DSM and DeNA Life Science aims to realise a healthy, long-lived society by promoting conversion from 'sick care' to cure after illness and 'healthcare' to care for health and preventing disease."

Speaking to us in Singapore last week, DSM's VP for human nutrition and health in APAC, Andre Rhoen, told us that personalised nutrition was gaining pace across the region.

"This company offers a DNA testing healthcare service, MYCODE, which enables consumers to get their DNA tested and see what their risks are for non-communicable diseases.

"We will now undertake a survey to assess what consumers expect next, after they know their risk profile. Of course, at DSM, we are constantly developing nutritional solutions to help people transform their lifestyles."

Nutrition Asia series

Rhoen was speaking to us for the next edition of our Nutrition Asia video series, which focuses on personalised nutrition and will be published in the coming weeks.

Also featuring in the video will be Alina Uchida, product development director at Singapore firm Imagene Labs, which has rapidly expanded across the region over the past two years with its personalised nutrition and skincare products.

On the B2B side, the company distributes products via wellness centres, gyms and fitness facilities, beauty and spa operations, aesthetic centres, private hospitals, and insurance firms.

In the B2C aspect, individual consumers are able to access Imagene Labs' genetic testing products and services on its website.

In the past 12 months, the firm has launched in Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Australia.

There is a feeling across the industry that personalised nutrition is poised to become more mainstream, especially due to improvements and lower costs in the area of diagnostics.

In January, we revealed that Herbalife had chosen South Korea for the launch of its new personalised nutrition programme, Gene Start, as it sought to capitalise on growing APAC demand for customised health solutions.

The programme uses a portable genetic testing kit to analyse individuals' genetic makeup, lifestyle patterns and dietary habits. This was developed in conjunction with genomic science firm Theragen Etex, and is available at US$72 per person.

As another sign of optimism, Singapore-based Novena Global Lifecare Group, which specialises in personalised nutrition by way of DNA testing, is seeing steady expansion across Asia, with a presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

Its latest development came in the form of an investment from Chinese asset management firm Cedarlake Huarong Group.