Bright Dairy launches China’s first domestic medical food for people with phenylketonuria
Phenylketonuria is an inherited metabolic disorder in which the body lacks the enzyme needed to break down the amino acid phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is found in meat, eggs, milk and other everyday foods. If intake is not restricted, it accumulates in the body, damages the nervous system and impairs intellectual development. Patients need a lifelong low-protein diet and additional phenylalanine-free specialised nutrition. In China, PKU occurs in about one in 11,000 newborns: about 1,000–1,300 children with the disorder are born each year, and 120,000–150,000 patients are registered nationwide.
Aipuxi is a nutritionally incomplete formula: it contains only amino acids, with no fat or carbohydrates. This allows doctors to build a diet based on the patient’s age, weight and activity level. According to the source, this approach suits older children, teenagers and adults better than complete formulas designed for infants.
Until now, such products in China have mostly been imported. Imports are expensive, deliveries take a long time and some families face supply interruptions. A 2024 survey by the Illness Challenge Foundation found that more than 80% of families of patients with rare metabolic disorders had experienced shortages or supply disruptions. In 2024, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation added urgently needed medical foods for rare diseases to a priority review procedure with a 30-working-day review period. Since China introduced registration of foods for special medical purposes in 2016, 330 such products had been registered as of June 2026. Five of them are domestic products for rare diseases approved through the priority procedure.
In the view of the trade publication, Bright Dairy’s entry into this segment shows that large dairy companies can use their research and production capabilities to enter clinical nutrition niches, not just infant formula.
