Japanese chemical company Kaneka has acquired a 34.8% stake in Spanish biotech firm AB-Biotics (ABB), at the same time concluding a license agreement giving it exclusive rights to the production and sales of ABB’s products in Canada, USA and Japan. Financial terms of the transactions were not revealed.

The Barcelona-headquartered company focuses on the research, development and distribution of its own products using lactic acid bacteria. It currently possesses more than 550 original probiotic strains extracted from human origin samples.

According to the Tokyo-headquartered group, increasing attention is being paid to the bacteria for its positive effect on allergic symptoms and infectious diseases along with its better known effects on intestinal function and the immune system.

Kaneka said it aims to achieve sales of Yen 10 billion ($90 million) in 2022 by developing and launching differentiated new products in a promising and fast-growing market. It noted that the market in North America for health food containing lactic acid bacteria has exceeded $2 billion while many new products have been launched in Japan, where demand is expected to be high.