EverGrain™, Sustainable Ingredient Business, Partners with AI Pioneer PIPA to Advance Its Research on Upcycled Barley Protein's Nutrition Potential

PIPA's Proprietary LEAP Technology Will Look at Specific Polyphenol Combinations That Can Be Further Studied for Sports Performance Benefits

DAVIS, Calif., March 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PIPA, nutrition AI company and EverGrain™, the first ingredient business to unlock the human health and commercialization potential for upcycled barley made from brewer's spent grain (BSG) are joining forces to advance the scientific study of the ancient grain through PIPA's computational platform LEAP™.

The science-led ingredient business has spent several years developing and researching the benefits and bioavailability of its EverPro® protein product via in vivo and in vitro trials¹² and is now leveraging PIPA's AI capabilities to take the science further, faster.

PIPA's nutrition AI platform, LEAP, will assess thousands of molecules and identify potential polyphenol combinations that could potentially lead to faster muscle recovery for high performing athletes. Today, there is no other known protein source that presents both quality protein and polyphenols known for their anti-inflammatory effects in a single natural source. As athletes drive to ever higher heights³ in their respective arenas, the ability to build and recover muscle simultaneously becomes crucial. LEAP is positioned to help inform the science that could confirm EverPro's unique ability to deliver both, at a fraction of the time and cost traditionally expected.

The LEAP platform offers a map of the food and nutrition universe, distilling what's historically true and scientifically proven about their effect on health. With an ever-expanding knowledge graph of over 280 million connections and relationships, LEAP's advanced AI toolkit reveals new, never studied before insights to propel research and discovery of molecules and health targets.

"Working with PIPA will change the game in bringing a new generation of high quality, scientifically sound plant-based ingredients and products to the sports nutrition category," says EverGrain's Head of R&D, Steffen Muench. "The LEAP platform will enable us to drastically reduce the time and costs it typically takes the ingredient industry to get to clinical trials and product development while still maintaining the scientific integrity and rigor we demand in everything we do."

"The use of AI has revolutionized the food industry on many levels, but there was a major gap in utilizing it for nutrition science and innovation," says PIPA CCO, Eric Hamborg. "PIPA's LEAP platform enables us to discover scientific information and insights at unprecedented speed and accuracy so companies like EverGrain – and the food and beverage brands they serve can address the growing consumer demand for plant-based, sustainable, nutritious functional foods."

Emphasizing the importance of rigorously tested and validated science-focused AI, Christos Stamelos, CTO at PIPA says: "we are excited about this new collaboration that allows us to work closely with the R&D and Science teams at EverGrain and together leverage our purpose-built AI tech to demystify the black box that threads together human health, biology and nutrition. Our partnership is an opportunity to make discoveries that will inform the next generation of functional foods and supplements addressing key consumer needs; from aging and immunity support to digestive health and sports performance."

About PIPA

PIPA is an AI company on a mission to accelerate innovation at the interface of food, nutrition, and health by combining advanced data analytics, bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence. LEAP, PIPA's AI platform enables the discovery of bioactive compounds, ingredients, formulations and health targets to inform the next generation of functional foods, beverages, and dietary supplements to address rapidly growing consumer interest in health, wellbeing, and performance. Traditionally, bioactive discovery through randomized, high-throughput screening of compound extracts has a <1% hit rate. AI-predicted bioactive targets recommended by LEAP reach a 35% hit rate, drastically collapsing con long discovery timelines.

Established in 2015 in Davis, California, PIPA has teamed up with CPG and biotech clients on more than 50 AI-driven engagements spanning nutrition, life sciences, agriculture, food science, and business operations. PIPA combines the deep technology expertise of its data scientists, bioinformaticians, and engineers with state-of-the-art AI, and a scalable infrastructure to guide decision-making and deliver breakthrough innovation opportunities. Learn more about our history, products, and pipeline at pipacorp.com and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest news and updates.

About EverGrain™ and EverPro®

EverPro®, created by EverGrain, is the world's first commercially available upcycled barley protein. EverPro's formulation delivers unmatched solubility and viscosity⁴ levels as compared to whey or pea protein isolates and is comparable in absorption and digestibility to whey and pea protein isolates. These properties make EverPro a great fit for sports and nutrition beverage applications. Because EverPro is made using a proprietary process to upcycle barley protein from brewer's spent grain (BSG), it emits lower carbon and uses significantly less land and water making it one of the most sustainable proteins on the planet. It is also one of the first ingredients to be certified by the Upcycled Food Association. EverPro's first large-scale facility came online in June of 2022 in St. Louis, MO. Learn more about EverGrain and EverPro at www.barley-protein.com, and follow EverGrain on LinkedIn to stay in touch.

Contact
Polina Hadjipanayiotou
[email protected]

¹ Vrasidas, I. True ileal protein digestibility and protein quality during transit through the tiny-TIM dynamic gastrointestinal model. (2022).

² Esser, D. BarPro study preliminary results, randomized, controlled double blind trial. (2022).

³ Norton, K., Olds, T. Morphological Evolution of Athletes Over the 20th Century. Sports Med 31, 763–783 (2001). Link.

⁴ IMPROVE. Protein suspension and rheological analysis, IMPROVE Lab and internal testing. (2022)

SOURCE PIPA