French yeast manufacturer Lesaffre has acquired Italian biotechnology company Gnosis for an undisclosed price.

Established in 1989, Gnosis has been engaged in the production and sale of fermentation-derived ingredients.

The company owns two GMP manufacturing sites located in Sant Antonino in Switzerland and Pisticci, Italy.

Gnosis former CEO Renzo Berna said: “Developing Gnosis has been an exciting challenge. After 25 years, Gnosis has become a reference on the market able to design and manufacture fermentation purified metabolites as Health Care Active Ingredients for the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets.

“I am convinced that Lesaffre, a family group known and recognised internationally for its professionalism and the quality of its products and services, will take this company even further forwards.”

With the completion of the acquisition, the company is combining Gnosis with its business unit Lesaffre Human Care, which was created in 2007 to supply ingredients issued from yeast and bacteria fermentation to the global human care industries.

By combing two business entities into a single unit, the business intends to offer a range of products and services to its nutrition and health customers and partners, continuing its growth in this fast-growing environment.

Lesaffre CEO Antoine Baule said: “For the past three years, we have developed the cooperation between Lesaffre and Gnosis teams to become today a unique provider of products and services that are increasingly innovative and closely address our customer’s needs in the Nutrition and Health sectors.”