Canomiks, which aims to “make food as medicine a reality,” has received a $1 million grant ($998,064 to be exact) from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which the company will use to develop its technology platform to benchmark and measure the biological effect of botanical ingredients and their impact on human health.

“The innovative genomics and AI-assisted tests by Canomiks to accurately evaluate the quality of botanical and functional ingredients will drive the development of next-generation wellness products,” said Manoj Bhasin, PhD, chief scientific advisor of Canomiks.

The company said its technology is the first of its kind to measure the biological effect of botanical ingredients from batch-to-batch in a cost and time-effective manner.

The NSF SBIR funding will be used to develop the technology platform starting with ingredients such as turmeric, cranberry, elderberry, and others.

Canomiks’ product will be a lab test that compares the functional ingredients’ biological effectiveness to that of the benchmark. Upon test completion, customers will receive a report detailing the biological effect score of the ingredient and a list of key human genes affected with a description of their relevance to human health.

With plans to launch in Q1 of 2025, the Canomiks service will be offered to companies in the natural products industry, including dietary supplements, functional foods, beverages, and skin care products.

“Using our combined decades of experience in academic research, genomics, and medicine we are modernizing the $300 billion natural products industry,” said Leena Pradhan-Nabzdyk, PhD, MBA, CEO of Canomiks. “It’s an honor to have NSF support and we look forward to working with companies to help them develop safe and efficacious products that their consumers can trust.”

Pradhan-Nabzdyk is a scientist and professor at Harvard Medical School, who will be speaking at the Health and Longevity Conference & Showcase produced by Nutraceuticals World on Sept. 12 in NYC. She co-founded Canomiks with Manoj Bhasin, PhD, and Frank W. LoGerfo, MD.