What are the news of A-Mansia Biotech since its creation as a spin-off ?
As a reminder, the bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila was discovered, isolated from human intestinal microbiota and characterized for the first time in 2004, in the laboratory of Prof. Willem M. de Vos (Wageningen University, The Netherlands), co-founder of A-Mansia.
Soon after, the team of Prof. Patrice D. Cani (UC Louvain, Brussels, Belgium), another co-founder of A-Mansia, discovered the beneficial effects of the bacteria. It restores the barrier function of the gut, leading to reduced inflammation and ultimately better control of fat storage, glucose metabolism and energy expenditure.
In October 2019, we submitted an application to the European Commission to consider pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila as a Novel Food.
We have just received the green light from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is a crucial step for our company. This new ingredient will be marketed as a dietary supplement in 2022.
What other steps do you think were critical to the successful commercialization of your new dietary supplement ?
Of course, there are many steps before a product can be marketed: pre-clinical and clinical studies, product formulation, naming design and product positioning, market access strategy, ....
We also collaborated with Wagralim's marketing innovation department, Fast Feedback. They developed a multi-test approach to advise us in our front end innovation process.
First, a study was conducted in Belgium and France to profile consumer segments with similar characteristics and identify our personas. For each consumer segment, we received a detailed socio-demographic profile but also their concerns and issues as well as their expectations or needs not or poorly met in contexts related to our future product solutions. The Fast Feedback team also identified the wording to use to present our future concepts.
With these elements, we worked on the presentation of our solutions to health professionals and consumers.
Wagralim then set up a quantitative study with consumers and one with doctors and pharmacists to validate several objectives :
Understanding the message and the storytelling
Validating the differentiating aspect of the products
Measuring purchase and recommendation intention
Analyzing price elasticity and how to communicate it
Evaluating the names of the concepts, the attractiveness of the packaging
How were these studies essential in the development of your concepts ?
Our marketing priority is to develop an effective product that will be easily understood by consumers and health specialists. In order to build this strong product concept, we started from the health benefits of our new generation bacteria and therefore studied in detail the needs and expectations of consumers and health professionals. We have identified 2 possible avenues to address our first product, which will tackle overweight and hyperglycemia.
Thanks to the expertise of Wagrallim's marketing department in the field of research, we managed to identify the consumers and health professionals we wanted to target. They implemented an effective methodology to measure and validate the best product concept for our company. They also helped us to better understand the possible obstacles, which allowed us to set up corrective actions for our future launch.
A final asset of Fast Feedback is certainly the strength of their network in the food industry and more specifically in the field of food supplements. Indeed, they have integrated experts in health psychology or in health strategy to enrich their recommendations following the results of the 2 cycles of market research. Moreover, they were able to collaborate with our communication agency specialized in health and nutrition, Karott', to bring them useful insights and wording in order to improve our messages and our communication supports.
Want to contact marketing's experts ? Check out for more info: https://fastfeedback.be/
What are the news of A-Mansia Biotech since its creation as a spin-off ?
As a reminder, the bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila was discovered, isolated from human intestinal microbiota and characterized for the first time in 2004, in the laboratory of Prof. Willem M. de Vos (Wageningen University, The Netherlands), co-founder of A-Mansia.
Soon after, the team of Prof. Patrice D. Cani (UC Louvain, Brussels, Belgium), another co-founder of A-Mansia, discovered the beneficial effects of the bacteria. It restores the barrier function of the gut, leading to reduced inflammation and ultimately better control of fat storage, glucose metabolism and energy expenditure.
In October 2019, we submitted an application to the European Commission to consider pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila as a Novel Food.
We have just received the green light from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is a crucial step for our company. This new ingredient will be marketed as a dietary supplement in 2022.
What other steps do you think were critical to the successful commercialization of your new dietary supplement ?
Of course, there are many steps before a product can be marketed: pre-clinical and clinical studies, product formulation, naming design and product positioning, market access strategy, ....
We also collaborated with Wagralim's marketing innovation department, Fast Feedback. They developed a multi-test approach to advise us in our front end innovation process.
First, a study was conducted in Belgium and France to profile consumer segments with similar characteristics and identify our personas. For each consumer segment, we received a detailed socio-demographic profile but also their concerns and issues as well as their expectations or needs not or poorly met in contexts related to our future product solutions. The Fast Feedback team also identified the wording to use to present our future concepts.
With these elements, we worked on the presentation of our solutions to health professionals and consumers.
Wagralim then set up a quantitative study with consumers and one with doctors and pharmacists to validate several objectives :
Understanding the message and the storytelling
Validating the differentiating aspect of the products
Measuring purchase and recommendation intention
Analyzing price elasticity and how to communicate it
Evaluating the names of the concepts, the attractiveness of the packaging
How were these studies essential in the development of your concepts ?
Our marketing priority is to develop an effective product that will be easily understood by consumers and health specialists. In order to build this strong product concept, we started from the health benefits of our new generation bacteria and therefore studied in detail the needs and expectations of consumers and health professionals. We have identified 2 possible avenues to address our first product, which will tackle overweight and hyperglycemia.
Thanks to the expertise of Wagrallim's marketing department in the field of research, we managed to identify the consumers and health professionals we wanted to target. They implemented an effective methodology to measure and validate the best product concept for our company. They also helped us to better understand the possible obstacles, which allowed us to set up corrective actions for our future launch.
A final asset of Fast Feedback is certainly the strength of their network in the food industry and more specifically in the field of food supplements. Indeed, they have integrated experts in health psychology or in health strategy to enrich their recommendations following the results of the 2 cycles of market research. Moreover, they were able to collaborate with our communication agency specialized in health and nutrition, Karott', to bring them useful insights and wording in order to improve our messages and our communication supports.
Want to contact marketing's experts ? Check out for more info: https://fastfeedback.be/
