Shiru, a startup deploying AI to aid in ingredient discovery, is inviting food companies to use its platform to explore ingredients that naturally stimulate production of GLP-1, a gut hormone associated with appetite regulation.
The new GLP-1 Innovation Alliance, an industry consortium that invites “Fortune 500 CPG companies and emerging brands to collaborate as equals” will use Shiru’s platform to identify natural proteins and peptides that bind to GLP-1 receptors and other receptors associated with appetite regulation and metabolism.
AI-powered ingredient discovery
Via a simple web interface, Shiru’s ingredient discovery platform lets users search a database of millions of molecules by protein sequence, functional use, and successful expression (how efficiently the protein might be expressed in microbes via precision fermentation).
Shiru looks at the job a protein needs to perform—binding to GLP-1 receptors for example—and translates that into prompts for its search algorithms so it can identify proteins that can deliver. Shiru can then produce samples of those proteins for partners that don’t have the capabilities to produce them in-house.
Given that a protein isn’t much use if it can’t be manufactured cost-effectively at scale, Shiru can also predict how well, or indeed if, a given protein can be expressed in a microbial host.
In short, Shiru is using tools typically used in drug discovery to find natural ingredients with specific functionality, founder and CEO Dr. Jasmin Hume told AgFunderNews: “We’re applying new tools that are not the most common from a food industry standpoint, such as large databases of proteomic information, biotechnology, AI, machine learning, although they are becoming more familiar.
“You don’t need to hire molecular biologists or build an in-house team of AI and machine learning engineers, you just need to know what your ingredient needs to do.”
In the case of appetite regulation, a super-hot topic in food and supplements right now, “There are a number of receptors that have been proven to control weight management and obesity, and GLP1R is just one of them,” said Hume. “But there is a wider set of targets and receptors that are responsible for regulating appetite suppression that we will be looking at too.
“There are also other pathways that have been well studied in literature around suppressing appetite, so we’re taking a lot of these different approaches. But the underlying concept is protein: protein interactions, targeting specific receptor antagonist relationships.”
Nature’s Ozempic field ‘still very much a white space’
But how does Shiru know what kinds of proteins might bind to GLP-1 receptors?
According to Hume: “Shiru has pioneered new machine learning algorithms that can effectively predict which proteins might bind with antagonist proteins (receptors), so that is one of the tools in the toolbox.
“We can also take a group of proteins that are known to trigger certain responses and look for proteins that are similar in terms of structure or sequence.”
As noted by Gil Horsky at FLORA Ventures, which is backing an Israeli startup called Lembas that has developed a peptide that binds to GLP-1 receptors, the “Nature’s Ozempic” space remains wide open, said Hume.
“It’s still very much a white space. On the pharma side, it’s super crowded, but most of the molecules being explored there are not natural. But in the food space, there really aren’t very many companies addressing this strategically.”
Given that GLP-1 and other hormones associated with satiety such as PYY and amylin do not stay long in the body, where they are broken down by enzymes, potential solutions may combine more than one ingredient, said Hume.
“You’re probably going to see a couple of different approaches that are layered on top of one another to create a complete solution. But the opportunity is immense.”
Novel business model
Shiru has fielded a growing number of requests around appetite regulation in recent months but has been trying to find the right business model to “democratize access” to solutions, said Hume.
“We are launching this in a non-exclusive manner because we don’t want to price anyone out. So we’ve decided to create some different tiers to provide folks with different optionality for how they want to engage.”
She added: “We’re creating a subscription model with quarterly fees that enable companies to have a seat at the table.”
The three engagement levels are:
- Discovery leaders: For companies ready to deeply influence research direction and access all findings with first right to licensing
- Innovation partners: For focused collaboration on specific applications with samples
- Observer members: For companies wanting to track progress at an accessible price point
Companies interested in taking part can learn more here, says Hume, who has set an August 15 deadline for founding members. After this, the next opportunity to join will be in summer 2026.
Further reading:
‘Pharma is eating Big Food’s lunch…’ Lembas fights back with GLP-1 boosting peptide
NotCo CEO on the road to profitability, the evolving business model, and its new GLP-1 booster
GLP-1 drugs are rewriting America’s food preferences, says IFF: ‘GLP-1s alter taste perception’
Watch our recent interview with Dr. Jasmin Hume at Future Food-Tech San Francisco:
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