NI Award winner reveals fast-paced adaption strategy
The Berlin-based consultancy and clinical research organizationwas recognized by the NutraIngredients editorial team for its focus on natural health products.
It offers services for marketing pharmaceuticals, supplements, medical devices and related ingredients through consulting, regulatory expertise, product development and the conduct of clinical studies.
Being presented with the award was “a push in the business,” Volker Schehlmann, CEO of analyze & realize, told NutraIngredients. “We are still proud to present the award in our office, and it remains part of our company presentation.”
For him, the award recognized what separated them from competitors “being a service provider and having in-house regulatory innovation, combined with clinical evaluations.”
Staying relevant
While the integrity of the offering remains since taking home the award in 2017, the company has continuously adapted to the needs of the market, explained Steffi Dudek, senior scientific consultant at analyze & realize.
“Since we are a service provider, we have to work very flexibly with what happens in the market, regulation change, seeing what has changed and what works,” she said.
She sees "a revolution" happening in the ingredients industry, noting that there has been a shift in focus due to evolving technology and intelligence.
“Where in the past we had more to do with products that looked like food, now we are working more with biotechnology, products manufactured in genetically modified microorganisms, and generally really high technology products," she added. “Technology has made things economically realistic that were unthinkable seven years ago.”
An acquisition
The firm saw a big change in September of last year, being acquired by Biofortis, the European contract research organization that specializes in nutrition clinical trials and microbiota investigations.
Now, the two companies provide a third clinical investigation site in Berlin, and as Schehlmann explained, it “broadens our portfolio, our capabilities, our expertise and our reach quite significantly”.
Whereas some services were outsourced prior to the acquisition, everything can now be done in-house, making analyze & realize a ‘one shop stop’ thanks to Biofortis’ experience in microbiome research.
“Size matters in our business," Schehlmann said. "If we look at our client structure, there is consolidation ongoing and the clients are getting bigger, and they're looking for partners who are also a little bit bigger and have a broader capability set in order to reduce the number of service providers they deal with. Now, with our broadened capabilities and broadened offerings, we are also more relevant for larger players."
NutraIngredients Awards 2024
With the changes the company has seen in the last year, analyze & realize is keen to “refresh impressions and bring the attention of more clients to our services, to make what we do more visible,” Dudek added, suggesting that it may be time to apply for another NutraIngredient award.
Entries for the 2024 NutraIngredients Awards are now open across 14 award categories, with applications being accepted until Feb. 5.
To celebrate a decade of championing the industry, NutraIngredients is hosting a face-to-face awards celebration, for winners and finalists, in Geneva on May 15, 2024.
