New 7-figure joint development agreement will overcome agricultural supply chain constraints and make key ingredients more accessible
Ayana Bio, the plant cell technology company dedicated to creating sustainable bioactive for consumer products, announced a seven-figure joint development agreement with Wooree Green Science, a subsidiary of Wooree Bio, to develop plant cell-derived saffron and other important bioactive ingredients for health and wellness products for distribution in the South Korean market.
The partnership will increase the accessibility and affordability of underdeveloped beneficial botanical ingredients like saffron. Saffron is proven to aid in weight loss by suppressing appetite and increasing metabolism, but climate change-driven crop failures are exacerbating an already constrained supply chain from the plant’s labour-intensive harvesting needs. It can take up to 170,000 flowers to produce just one kilo of saffron, making it a prohibitively expensive ingredient for supplements. This joint development agreement will address these issues by sustainably producing saffron bioactives using plant cell cultivation, a cost-efficient, alternative production method that bypasses the constraints of agricultural supply chains.
“Saffron, like many other botanicals, faces a complex and uncertain future as it grapples with shifting weather patterns, pollution and water shortages in the limited number of countries where traditional production happens,” says Frank Jaksch, CEO of Ayana Bio. “We want to reinvigorate the natural plant-based weight loss supplement market so more people can reap the health benefits. Joining forces with Wooree Green Science will help Ayana Bio deliver on the promise of saffron’s clinical evidence by making the ingredient more affordable with plant cell cultivation.”
