Although it’s only been in existence since January of this year, Nestlé Health Science S.A., a fully-owned subsidiary of Switzerland-based Nestlé S.A., has made ambitious strides toward its goal of pioneering science-based nutritional solutions in order to deliver improved personalized healthcare for medical conditions. Last month the company added Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. to its cache of businesses, which includes Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, Vitaflo and CM&D Pharma Ltd. This newest acquisition is a San Diego, CA-based leader in diagnostics and in-licensed specialty oncology and gastroenterology-related pharmaceuticals pertaining to inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. 

According to Nestlé Health Science, Prometheus’s strong expertise and R&D in gastrointestinal diagnostics will accelerate the research program that is currently in the process of being established in the newly-created Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences. The goal is to create new opportunities for developing personalized nutrition strategies that will “help in the management and prevention of chronic health conditions,” while the R&D pipeline will encompass other areas of strategic interest for Nestlé Health Science, such as metabolic conditions and brain health.
 
Nestlé Health Science said Prometheus’ capabilities strongly support its own ambition of pioneering science-based nutritional solutions to deliver improved personalized healthcare for medical conditions. What’s more, Nestlé Health Science will “use nutritional solutions to change the healthcare paradigm and deliver affordable and effective health benefits that are also safe and sustainable” in the long term.
 
“This acquisition is a strategic move into gastrointestinal diagnostics,” said Luis Cantarell, Nestlé Health Science president and CEO in a statement. “Prometheus’s leading edge diagnostics and highly experienced medical sales representatives together constitute a robust platform for Nestlé Health Science to accelerate its current and future healthcare business. It will enable new personalized healthcare solutions based on diagnostics, pharma and nutrition.”
 
Joseph Limber, president and CEO of Prometheus, said Nestlé Health Science’s broad reach will enable his company to add a nutritional dimension its current business model. “We are delighted to join Nestlé Health Science, and we share their commitment to personalized healthcare. With Nestlé Health Science’s support, we will accelerate the development of our innovative diagnostic platforms for gastroenterology and oncology and potentially into additional important therapeutic areas,” he commented. “We also intend to leverage Nestlé Health Science’s nutritional product offerings and geographic presence to expand our successful Rx/Dx business model into a Dx/Nx/Rx model.”
 
Prometheus was founded in 1995 and has had the support of institutional ownership including DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, SPVC (managed by Split Rock Partners), Sprout Group (sub-advised by New Leaf Venture Partners), Apax Partners, Pamlico Capital and Brentwood Venture Capital. It had enjoyed 14 consecutive years of sales growth until last year, according to Mr. Limber, and in addition to its own products, the company has agreements to sell and distribute medicines with other companies, including Novartis AG and AstraZeneca PLC.
 
The transaction is expected to close early in the third quarter of this year. Although the terms of the transaction, which is still subject to regulatory approval, were not disclosed, Bloomberg postulated that Nestlé paid between “500 million Swiss francs ($567 million) to 1 billion Swiss francs” for the company.  In 2012 Prometheus’s annualized sales are expected to be around $250 million.
 
In an interview with Bloomberg, James Amoroso, a food industry consultant based in Walchwil, Switzerland, said that the Prometheus acquisition was evidence of how serious Nestle is when it comes to developing personalized nutrition strategies that aid in the management and prevention of chronic health conditions. However Mr. Amoroso noted that “because the group is so big, you probably won’t see the impact for another 10 years.”
 
Approximately 500 Prometheus employees  will join Nestlé Health Science as a result of the acquisition.