LactoPharma, a joint venture consortium between New Zealand dairy company Fonterra and Auckland UniServices Limited, the commercial arm of The University of Auckland, is seeking to identify novel, biologically active components or bioactives in milk that are beneficial to human health and can be manufactured on a scale that is commercially viable.

Fonterra announced recently it had appointed Dr Kannan Subramaniam, a clinician with expertise in the growing field of biotechnology research and development, to head LactoPharma, which is funded jointly by Fonterra and the Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST).
Dr Subramaniam says he is very excited to be taking LactoPharma into its next stage of development.
“We have world-class scientists from both Fonterra and the university working on the discovery of new bioactives we can patent. These may have a role in controlling major global health problems, such as obesity, asthma, osteoporosis or infection.
“It will be very exciting for me to see some of these discoveries taken to the commercial stage where Fonterra is manufacturing them on a large scale as functional food ingredients, nutraceuticals or health supplements,” says Dr Subramaniam.
Dr John Kernohan, the chief executive officer of Auckland UniServices Ltd, said LactoPharma was a good example of how private enterprise and university-led research were increasingly working together to unlock new commercial opportunity.
LactoPharma draws on very strong science and we are delighted that the company will be led by a clinician of Dr Subramaniam’s calibre.” he said.
Dr Subramaniam says LactoPharma has already had some big wins.
“In less than two years, our researchers have discovered a number of new bioactive components in milk and we have applied for patents for these.  We consider several of them have the potential to create significant commercial returns for Fonterra.”
Dr Subramaniam says people would probably be amazed to know how many dozens of components there are in milk.
“Researchers have been studying milk for hundreds of years but using modern techniques they are still finding brand new substances.”