Nestlé Is Determined To Bridge The Gap Between Food And Pharmaceuticals

Nestlé Chief Executive Paul Bulcke says that part of the solution to rising global healthcare costs “lies in the gap between food and pharmaceuticals”. His company’s goal is to close that gap – and spur company growth – first by launching Nestlé Health Science SA create “specialist food-based products” that will help thwart and even treat serious health conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. An institute within that new company will conduct biomedical research to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of disease. From that knowledge Nestlé hopes to develop food products or supplements like its Clinutren line, which are added to soups and other foods to help prevent weight loss in cancer patients. Total sales at the company’s current Healthcare Nutrition unit, which will be folded into Health Science SA, were $1.63 billion in 2009.