Solarea Bio Announces the Beta Launch of Bondia™, a Novel Daily Medical Food Helping Menopausal Women Manage Bone Loss

The complete beta launch experience, known as the Beta Complete Journey, includes a baseline total body DEXA scan, a year of Bondia™ capsules, and access to an accompanying mobile app.

BOSTON, May 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- All peri- and postmenopausal women experience bone loss, which can lead to osteoporosis if left unmanaged. And although osteoporosis is exceedingly common, afflicting 1 in 3 women, most are unaware of their condition and the implications that it can have for their health. An osteoporotic injury can be devastating, significantly reducing quality of life and—in the worst cases—resulting in a 30% mortality rate in the first-year post-hip fracture.

Solarea Bio, a Boston-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, recognizes this and believes that it is essential to not only raise awareness around the importance of bone health far ahead of menopause, but to also provide consumers with tangible avenues for managing bone loss leading up to and throughout the menopausal experience.

Solarea Bio develops health innovations using fruit and vegetable-derived microbes, and is launching its consumer health brand, Journa, to bring these products to market. Initially debuting via a private beta program, their first-ever product, Bondia™ medical food, is a daily synbiotic capsule that helps address bone loss in peri- and postmenopausal women. It is naturally formulated and being clinically validated to address bone loss through the dietary management of the condition. This private beta program serves as a prelaunch trial to evaluate the overall customer experience with the rollout—such as with orders, shipping, and app usage—in advance of its anticipated public launch this September.

Bondia™ medical food is Journa's naturally developed, clinical solution to manage postmenopausal bone loss. The daily synbiotic medical food is formulated using a blend of fruit and vegetable-derived probiotic bacteria, yeast, and prebiotic plant fibers aimed at reducing the inflammation and activity of osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone as part of normal bone maintenance. In preparation for its private beta program, Bondia™ medical food is currently undergoing a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical food trial in 286 early postmenopausal women. Adds Eric Schott, PhD, the COO and co-founder of Solarea Bio, "Bondia™ has been extensively characterized using in vitro, in vivo, preclinical models, and rigorous randomized clinical food trials in partnership with leading institutions and now is ready to be tested by customers. The product is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) and has an excellent tolerability profile."

Selected beta participants will have the ability to take the Bondia™ medical food for free throughout the two month duration of the program, and will have the opportunity to record their beta experience and receive guidance in the accompanying Journa mobile app. Participants who want a more comprehensive regimen can express interest in the full beta experience, known as the Complete Beta Journey, comprising a 12 month supply of Bondia™ and extended access to the Journa app. Through Journa's partnership with DexaFit, and its location in the San Francisco Bay area, selected Complete Beta Journey participants will also receive a complimentary full body DEXA scan, a cutting-edge evaluation for assessing bone mineral density (BMD) as well as muscle and fat composition, at the start and end of the program. "Tracking BMD, muscle, and fat will empower women in menopause to monitor the efficacy of health interventions and will aid their physicians with additional data to make recommendations," adds Amy Kutch Stanbery, DexaFit's co-founder.

"Journa is creating a novel product experience with Bondia™, its first product. The Complete Beta Journey aims to combine the synbiotic oral capsules, a mobile phone app and a DEXA scan in a unique experience. This will enable our customers to further take control of their menopausal journey by tracking their health with full body DEXA scans in combination with the app and oral capsules," says Gerardo V. Toledo, PhD, the CEO and co-founder of Solarea Bio.

About Solarea Bio 
Solarea Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Greater Boston, MA, mining the untapped microbial diversity of fresh fruits and vegetables to develop novel solutions for managing inflammatory diseases. Solarea has built a best-in-class strain catalog of bacteria and fungi, a database of their genomes, and a computational platform to mine them to develop products to improve human wellbeing. Solarea's consumer health arm Journa brings this technology to market, with medical food products that are clinically tested and naturally formulated.

Contact
Eric Schott
[email protected]
[email protected]

SOURCE Solarea Bio