A Californian probiotics developer backed by tycoons Li Ka-shing and Bill Gates will launch a dietary product it claims can strengthen infants’ immune system in Hong Kong and Singapore on Tuesday. Evolve BioSystems said the product works by reintroducing a beneficial gut bacteria that is missing in today’s babies. Evivo, an activated form of the intestinal bacteria Bifidobacterium infantis, has been mixed with breast milk and fed to “tens of thousands” of babies in the United States since it was launched two years ago, according to Evolve’s chief executive, Timothy Brown. The company has chosen the two cities, among the richest in Asia, as the regional launchpads for its first foray outside its home market. It aims to address the autoimmune health challenges that have arisen in the region in the past few decades, such as eczema and allergies, which have coincided with the rise of formula feeding, C-section deliveries and excessive use of antibiotics. As biotech firms become the darlings of Hong Kong’s IPO market, their executives get outsized pay packets. Here’s why “Our data has confirmed that, at least in the US, nine out of 10 babies have a disrupted gut microbiome,” said David Kyle, Evolve’s chairman and chief scientific officer. “By restructuring the microbiome, we can re-establish a proper immune system.” Evolve raised US$40 million of private equity funding last summer led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Horizons Ventures, the investment arm of the Li Ka Shing Foundation. A clinical trial was conducted in 2017 by Evolve’s partner, the Davis Medical Center of the University of California, on breastfed babies who were given Evivo, an activated form of the missing gut bacteria once a day. The study showed that these babies saw an 80 per cent reduction in groups of potentially harmful bacteria that have been linked to various diseases later in life. Evolve is funding a similar study at King’s College London. Temasek unit-backed firm Lucence to tap Hong Kong cancer screening market Kyle said Evolve is in talks with Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital about conducting trials by giving Evivo to premature babies at its neonatal intensive care unit, and to healthy full-term babies discharged from others such as the Prince of Wales Hospital. Brown declined to divulge US sales figures, but said: “We are experiencing pretty consistently double-digit month-on-month growth,” adding that more than 1,600 positive reviews have been left on its website. “It is one of those products that are fuelled by word of mouth.” Evolve will initially only sell its products in Hong Kong via its website and fulfil orders from its warehouse in Indiana state with the help of courier Fedex. To help bolster consumer recognition, it is exploring the possibility of cooperating with Hong Kong retailers, including those run by Li’s companies, he added. Evivo’s sale in the US has been approved by the Food and Drugs Administration under the category “food for special dietary use” and does not require additional approval in Hong Kong. A four- to 12-week supply kit costs HK$638 to HK$1,434. Shipping costs an additional sum of around US$110 for up to 12 weeks of supply to ensure the product is kept cold door-to-door. Brown said the company has no further concrete fund-raising plans.