Founded in 2007, Hamilton-based Quantec claims to be unlike many other dairy-based companies in New Zealand, which manufacture and market dairy commodities like milk powder. Instead, Quantec focuses on the discovery and commercialisation of high-value bioactive compounds from milk.
Eyes on NZ
Through major Japanese speciality ingredients company Kanematsu Chemicals Corporation in a long-term deal, Quantec will supply the IDP complex of bioactive milk proteins, which offer antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. This will be done throughout the country to a market Kanematsu believes will support it on account of its origin.
“Japanese consumers have always looked very favourably on New Zealand dairy products, and we expect the agreement to build on this customer perception,” said James Groenhart of Kanematsu New Zealand.
The deal will provide Quantec with a stepping-stone to expand further into the Asian market, and comes after five years of directly exporting its milk proteins to North America, where it has completed a number of clinical studies in on IDP.
US studies
These studies investigated the complementary effect of IDP on the human innate immune system and the ability for it to correctly control the size or amplitude of the immune response after injury or infection.
“IDP is a unique ingredient naturally derived from fresh milk,” said Rod Claycomb, Quantec’s founder. “It contains what we refer to as Triple-A activity – antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.
“These bioactive proteins, which tend to resist much of the digestive process; work synergistically to destroy pathogenic bacteria, dampen the inflammatory response that often follows the infection or tissue damage and then completes the cycle by helping to promote the healing process.”
The company conducted its studies using IDP on subjects with systemic inflammation from arthritis, acne infections of the face and bacterial halitosis of the oral cavity. Each time, it was shown to have a significant clinical advantage.