| As a pioneer in human milk-based nutritional products, Prolacta produces specialty nutritional formulations made exclusively from human milk for critically ill premature infants in the NICU. Prolacta is the first and only company to provide a human milk fortifier made from 100% human milk, Prolact+H2MF™. |
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As a for-profit company Prolacta has invested over 30 million dollars in research, clinical studies and facilities to develop and test our human milk derived products. This world class research and development would not have been possible with a non-profit business model.
Prolacta Bioscience's products and clinical trial
During the last trimester, infants receive vast amounts of nutrition through the umbilical cord to support their growth during this crucial time in their development. However, very premature infants miss this crucial nutrition and their caloric and protein needs are greater than what breast milk can supply. As a result, the standard practice in the NICU is to fortify breast milk with extra calories and protein to provide enough for the very premature infant’s needs. Until the advent of Prolact+H2MF, the only way to provide the extra calories and protein was to add cow-based formula. Prolacta's lead product, Prolact+H2MF, is the only product made from 100% human milk that can supply the extra calories and protein necessary for very premature infants. Prolact+ H2MF is specially designed to be used with mother's own milk, which is the best possible nutrition for critically ill premature infants, to give the necessary extra calories and protein.
Recently, Prolacta has completed the first ever multi-center randomized clinical study of feeding critically ill premature infants a completely human milk based nutritionally adequate diet. The study was conducted at such prestigious institutions as Yale, Johns Hopkins, Baylor, and the University of Florida. The study showed that a 100% human milk diet, including the fortifier, for premature infants under 1250 grams birth weight reduced the frequency of developing Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC) by 64% and reduced the odds of needing surgery due to NEC by 7.2 fold versus an essentially human milk diet that included some cow-milk based formula. Prolacta's product, Prolact+H2MF, is the only product that allows for a 100% fortified human milk diet in the NICU. Your generous milk donation will be used to produce these life saving nutritional therapies and help improve the lives of critically ill premature infants. To read more about the study, go to the Journal of Pediatrics http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(09)01085-3/abstract.
Prolacta believes in giving back to the community
By working with selected charities to address diverse health challenges, Prolacta Bioscience looks for synergistic opportunities to make a meaningful difference in today’s global community.
From mid-2006 through 2009 Prolacta Bioscience worked to qualify breast milk donors and to process over a quarter million ounces of donor milk for those orphaned and suffering from HIV/AIDS, malnourishment, poverty and disease in South Africa. The milk directed to South Africa was donated and not sold to babies or orphan clinics. In addition to the collection and processing of milk for infants in need, Prolacta also donated over $450,000. This ensured a source of funds to build critically needed healthcare clinics for orphaned and impoverished infants in South Africa, and provided a vehicle to help local South African moms to donate milk. The partnership between a non-profit with a for-profit organization created a model that established a sustainable means to provide for a critical need in Africa. |
