Dive Brief:
- Global food giant Nestlé is getting into the Alzheimer's diagnostics game through a partnership with the Swiss biopharma company AC Immune. The diagnostic in development is based on an antibody technology developed by Prometheus, which was acquired by Nestlé in 2011.
- Nestlé has been focused on developing a franchise of nutrition-based therapies to treat chronic diseases.
- Part of the plan is to establish a diagnostic as part of a larger plan to addres Alzheimer's disease (AD) using a nutritional approach—most likely in combination with other pharmacolgic therapies.
Dive Insight:
According to AC Immune, there are 9.9 million new cases of AD each year. Moreover, the treatment cost for dementia in general has increased from $604 billion in 2010 to $818 billion currently.
The key to stabilizing those figures is to continue to work on various therapies and diagnostics—with an emphasis on accurate diagnosis and treatment at the earliest possible stages.
Within the next decade, the size of the Alzheimer’s diagnostics and biomarkers market will overtake the market for currently available AD treatments, with an anticipated annual market value of at least $1 billion to $3 billion per year. That being said, Ed Baetge, head of the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, and his team are determined to contribute to efforts to improve current diagnostic methods for AD.
One interesting note surrounding this healthcare-related foray for Nestlé: On July 1, former Takeda CFO Francois-Xavier Roger replaced Wan Ling Martello as the CFO of Nestlé.