Chi-Med and Nestlé Health Science establish Joint Venture
Nestlé Health Science SA, a fully-owned subsidiary of Nestlé SA, and Chi-Med, announced that they have agreed to form a 50/50 joint venture to be named Nutrition Science Partners Limited (“NSP”).
The purpose of NSP is to research, develop, manufacture and market worldwide novel medicines and nutritional products derived from botanical plant origins. NSP will focus on gastrointestinal indications (“GI”), and may in the future expand into the metabolic disease and brain health areas.
Nestlé Health Science will make an initial capital investment in return for its 50% shareholding in NSP; while Chi-Med will provide exclusive rights to its extensive botanical library and well-established botanical R&D platform, in the field of gastrointestinal disease. Such botanical library contains over 1,500 purified natural products and over 50,000 extracts/fractions derived from more than 1,200 different medicinal plants.
NSP will also progress HMPL-004, a novel, oral therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (“IBD”) developed by Hutchison MediPharma Limited (“HMP”) and derived from a botanical extract, through Phase III registration trials for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The clinical efficacy and safety of HMPL-004 in the treatment of IBD has already been demonstrated in over 400 patients, including successful Phase IIb trials completed by HMP in North America and Europe. The Phase III program for HMPL-004 is scheduled to start in early 2013. It will be conducted primarily in the US and Europe and is expected, in total, to enrol over 2,700 patients suffering from ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
NSP will be governed by its Board. Luis Cantarell will be the Chairman, and Christian Hogg will be both a Director and the first General Manager of NSP.
NSP will be funded primarily through the initial Nestle Health Science capital investment and further milestone payments linked to success of clinical and commercial activities.
This transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Other news from the department business & finance
