Probi & Cilag sign long-term agreement to develop probiotic product

Swedish bioengineering company, Probi, has signed a long-term agreement with Cilag, which is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, for the development of a probiotic product.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly initiate a probiotic development programme to be funded under non-disclosed financial terms by Cilag. This partnership is expected to further expand Probi’s product development pipeline and commercialisation of its strain portfolio.

“We are very happy to initiate this development programme together with a strong global partner in OTC,” commented Ole Søgaard Andersen CEO of Probi. “By combining Probi´s probiotic expertise with the pharma company's development resources and regulatory expertise, we will form a very strong team moving forward together.”

The probiotic market has seen rapid growth and increased interest from pharma, and their consumer healthcare divisions, as a result of the research into the importance of human microbiota.