VEVEY, Switzerland, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Swiss food giant Nestle said Monday it would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in nutritional sciences to explore a new "food and pharma" industry.
Nestle said it would launch two research and development companies "to develop the innovative area of personalized health science nutrition to prevent and treat health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease."
In a statement, Nestle said it would fund "creation of Nestle Health Science S.A. and the Nestle Institute of Health Sciences to pioneer a new industry between food and pharma."
The company said Nestle Health Science S.A. would be up and running Jan. 1 and would operate "an arm's length from Nestle's main food, beverages and nutrition activities."
Nestle named Luis Cantarell, former executive vice president of Nestle S.A, responsible for Zone of the Americas, as the president and chief executive officer of Nestle Health Science. Emmanuel Baetge, former chief scientific officer of San Diego, Calif., biotechnology firm ViaCyte would lead the Institute of Health Sciences, the company said.
