Nestlé Health Science, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nestlé Corporation, has agreed with Chi-Med, a pharmaceutical and healthcare group, to set up a 50:50 Joint Undertaking Nutrition Science Partners Limited (NSP).
NSPs will research, develop, manufacture and sell innovative food and medicinal products derived from
plants.
This new joint venture will provide Nestlé Health Science with access to one of the world's leading Chinese traditional medicine libraries.
The NSP will focus on gastrointestinal health and possibly expand its activities in the future, focusing on metabolic diseases and brain health.
Research and Development The new partner gives Nestlé Health Science access to Chi-Med's world-class knowledge and Chinese Traditional Medicine Library, which houses more than 50,000 extracts from more than 1,200 different plants.
The company is also allowed to use the botanical R&D platform for gastrointestinal diseases, including scientific findings, non-clinical and pharmaceutical functions, as well as information on botanical guidelines and regulations.
Plant nutrition and its benefitsfor patients "This joint venture provides an opportunity for Nestlé Health Science to develop and commercialize truly innovative and scientifically tested plant-based foods for personalized gastrointestinal diseases," explains Luis Cantarell, President and CEO of Nestlé Health Science.
"Nestlé Health Science will offer unique knowledge of nutritional science, diagnostics and commercial capabilities, and Chi-Med will provide the highest-level Library of Chinese Traditional Medicine and a platform for scientific discoveries that will underpin Nutrition Science Partners' future solutions for gastrointestinal diseases."
"We support this important work by Nestlé Health Science and are confident that using the resources of both companies, we will be able to offer many new herbal remedies and foods to the market, thus providing significant benefits to patients and their shareholders," said Christian Hogg, Ceo of Chi-Med.
Support for clinical trialsAt Chi-Med subsidiary Hutchison MediPharma Limited has already made progress in research and development, producing the first herbal product of its kind to be used orally in patients with mild to moderate bowel inflammatory diseases.
Its main component is derived fromandrographis paniculata,a plant used in Chinese traditional medicine.
The new joint venture will continue to support product development in the next phase of clinical trials, which are expected to start in 2013.
Nestlé Health Science Nestlé Health Science's recent investments will improve the company's ability to develop scientific and personalized nutritional solutions.
The company is active in the field of acute diseases – medical care, intensive care and surgeries of the elderly, as well as paediatrics.
Nestlé Health Science is also developing new approaches to addressing chronic diseases, metabolic and brain health problems in the gastrointestinal tract.
The importance of nutrition The new company will work towards Nestlé Health Science's goal of developing personalized healthcare that combines nutrition, medicines and diagnostics.
This approach can be implemented by acquiring Prometheus, the leading gastrointestinal disease diagnostics company in the USA, using its gastroenterology and oncology diagnostic capabilities and internally licensed pharmaceutical products that are intended for the patient between the diagnosis of the disease and its treatment.
The new joint venture is an opportunity for Nestlé Health Science to offer this approach to patients outside the
US.
The company has made several investments to develop its portfolio of treatments for gastrointestinal diseases, including a minority stake in New Zealand company Vital Foods and the acquisition of CM&D Pharma Ltd. Nestlé Health Science acquired the British company Vitaflo to expand its portfolio of clinical nutrition solutions for metabolic
disorders. To improve its brain health portfolio, the company acquired the US firm Accera.
The terms
of cooperation with Nutrition Science Partners will primarily be financed from initial capital investments by Nestlé Health Science and further large-scale investments involving clinical and commercial activities that have achieved good results.