Nuritas Founder and CEO Focuses the Company’s Mission on “Learning the Language of Life” to Take Molecular Food Science to New Heights
- Nora Khaldi is the founder and CEO of Nuritas, a biotechnology company using proprietary AI technology to discover and develop plant-based bioactive peptides.
- Khaldi explained that Nuritas’ approach to innovation focuses on “learning the language of life”.
- This article is part of Innovation Leaders, a series examining how business leaders view their role in driving technological innovation.
Nuritas is a biotech company that uses proprietary AI technology to discover and develop plant-based bioactive peptides. Nuritas has amassed the largest library of peptides in the world with over 5.2 million discoveries and works with companies such as Nestle, Mars, Sumitomo Corporation, Metagenics, Pharmavite, etc. Founder and CEO Nora Khaldi was named Woman of the Decade by the Women Economic Forum and inducted into the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders and sits on the board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). ). In a recent interview with Insider, Khaldi explained how she approaches innovative thinking to drive the company beyond expectations and meet new challenges:
What is the biggest business challenge you are facing right now and how are you solving it?
We have just announced our expansion into the United States and the construction of our new headquarters in Connecticut, near Yale University. Nuritas was founded in Ireland, so not only are we innovating in a new country, but we are coordinating a transatlantic movement. I will also be moving to oversee the expansion.
Nuritas is the innovation partner of many US companies whose mission is to help them develop greener, safer products that take natural efficacy to a new level, and we partner with leading food and pharmaceutical companies , including Nestlé, Mars, Sumitomo Corporation, Pharmavite and Zero. Day feeding. These and many more of our existing operating partners are located in the United States, which factored into our decision to locate there.
This new expansion will only help us in our collaborations while allowing us to tap into the kind of talent we need to continue our growth, marketing and expansion.
What products do you have in the pipeline?
We’ve developed a long-lasting, herbal solution that can maintain muscle function for longer. Not only does it add to the building blocks of muscle, but it can also repair muscle, which the current animal-based standard of care cannot do as well. Our herbal solution is more effective, helping to make muscles look younger and healthier. This is important in all aspects of life – from faster recovery after exercise for athletes to maintaining lean muscle mass and strength during menopause.
We are also working to bring to market a peptide we discovered that can improve glucose metabolism and reduce signs of prediabetes. This is critically important, as diabetes is one of the largest epidemics in the world, with over 420 million patients worldwide.
What technology systems do you prioritize in your budget plans?
Our main technological platform is the Nπϕ™ (Nuritas Peptide Finder). By leveraging AI, it can identify and develop new bioactive compounds in months rather than years, accelerating the discovery process and outperforming traditional methods while dramatically reducing costs.
Our technology unlocks the language of nature, quickly and effectively targeting, predicting and revealing the bioactive ingredients hidden in plants and natural food sources. These discoveries provide our partners with groundbreaking opportunities to treat and prevent existing and emerging diseases and meet the challenges of a changing world. We’ve been developing and refining this proprietary technology platform since 2014, discovering nearly 5.2 million peptides, participating in 12 human trials and 15 scientific publications, collaborating with some of the world’s leading food and science companies, and creating and launching three proprietary ingredients.
Our state-of-the-art laboratory testing facility pioneered the development of peptidomic methods, and we now offer the largest natural library of peptides in the world. With 50,000 peptides tested weekly, Nuritas offers 63% biological accuracy, 80% bioavailability accuracy, and 92% cell penetration accuracy, solving many previously perceived problems associated with peptide use. As we continue to expand, we continue to prioritize the optimization and development of Nπϕ. We anticipate that our new headquarters will also continue our tradition of pioneering new technologies and methods for peptide discovery.
Who do you partner with internally and externally to make business and technology decisions?
Internally, we have built a team of over 50 innovators with 860 years of combined research experience. Together, we decide which of our huge library of peptides is worth developing and commercializing, as well as where to direct our resources and research.
Externally, we worked with Yale Ventures and AdvanceCT during the construction of our headquarters in the United States. They help us choose the final location for our new headquarters and will also help us recruit the best talent in the fields of medicine, science and engineering. They are both connected in the ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in Connecticut and have a pulse on all that is happening in this space.
Are you excited about the technology of the future and what it means for your business and industry?
Technology is everywhere, but its success and failure will depend on its full integration and ability to perform a useful task. In terms of nutrition and food, very little integration has been achieved to date. Today’s technologies – and developments in AI and ML – can help us see nature differently and take molecular food science to new heights. The products that AI helps us create have so many potential applications, and that’s what makes what we do so exciting and inspiring. We have learned to speak the language of life, to find unique peptides hidden and embedded in proteins, and to help the human body use them more efficiently.
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