Seed Health, a microbiome science company, has officially announced the launch of VS-01™ Vaginal Synbiotic, which is the first vaginal synbiotic clinically validated to establish an optimal vaginal microbiome dominated by Lactobacillus crispatus, the vagina’s most protective bacteria. Building upon Seed Health’s award-winning portfolio of microbiome-directed innovations, the vaginal synbiotic’s launch came only after a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, a trial where it was revealed that nearly 90% of participants established an optimal vaginal microbiome dominated by L. crispatus, and that too, within just 21 days of use. Next up, the trial went on to expose non-efficacy of oral probiotics in regards to vaginal health. You see, while the VS-01™ suppository tablet rapidly increased abundance of L. crispatus in the vaginal environment, researchers did not detect any strains from a leading oral probiotic for vaginal health at any point whatsoever. Moving on, another major component that came out of Seed Health’s study was the advanced delivery technology. This involved the company’s proprietary SMART Tablet™, which was successful in providing an extended-release profile that, on its part, proved superior to both placebo and a fast-release vaginal capsule with the same strains. Markedly enough, beyond its clinical efficacy, the synbiotic also proved itself when the objective was to ensure optimal safety, as it was found to be well-tolerated and non-disruptive to the vaginal pH.
“This launch represents the very essence of why we founded Seed: to translate pioneering microbiome discoveries into life-changing health innovations,” said Ara Katz, co-founder and co-CEO of Seed Health. “As a woman and a mother, it is especially meaningful to accelerate advancements in an area that has been so deprioritized and systemically overlooked. The vaginal microbiome is the next frontier in women’s health, and VS-01™ embodies its vast potential—an entirely new paradigm of care that empowers greater agency over our bodies.”
Making the entire effort all the more important is, of course, the presence of VS-01, which sets a new standard for safety in vaginal health products, prioritizing the vaginal microbiome and other important biomarkers that most competing products do not accommodate. You see, leveraging a cruelty-free tissue model recognized for preclinical validation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the stated standard would test for vaginal biocompatibility to ensure non-disruption to the vaginal mucosal barrier. In case that wasn’t quite enough, we must mention how VS-01™ is formulated without artificial fragrances, preservatives, or dyes and is free from dairy and other animal-derived materials. Not just that, it is also comes without any common endocrine disruptors such as PFAS, parabens, BPA, and phthalates. Under the given development, this whole mechanism will now slide next to Seed Health’s already comprehensive safety protocol, which packs together testing for over 500 contaminants, including chemical residues and heavy metals, and 14 different classes of allergens.
“During my more than two decades of research in this field, I’ve seen countless consumer products that fail to address the unique needs of the vaginal microbiome. Many probiotics aimed at vaginal health utilize gut strains or are administered as oral supplements, ignoring that these methods do not direct the microbes from the GI tract to the vagina,” said Dr. Jacques Ravel, lead researcher on this study. “I am inspired to see Seed pioneer a new frontier in vaginal health, translating my research from the lab into innovations that make a real difference in women’s lives.”
