Nestlé withdraws from pharmaceutical experiments after Parfogia hits

Biopharmaceutical banks can exclude Nestlé from their list of potential buyers. The group best known for chocolate and vitamins has made several forays into the world of drug development in recent years, but thanks to the commercial failure of peanut allergy treatment Parforzia, it didn’t surprise anyone. Maybe… the break-in is over.

Palforzia accompanied the acquisition of Aimmune for $2.6 billion in 2020. Aimmune is a biotech company that Nestlé, through its Health Sciences division, has been generously supporting for years prior to Takeaway. Nestlé and Ceres’ relationship has followed a similar path since 2015, barring a buyout, but it was only this summer that Enterome exchanged his $40 million handshake. Will the Swiss company cool down on these deals too?

The decision to sell or partner with Palforzia was announced earlier this week as part of a day-long investor event. Greg Behar, chief executive of the health sciences division and director of Aimmune since 2016, said the company has concluded that Palforzia is destined to become a “niche” allergy product.

“It hasn’t delivered on our business case for being a blockbuster,” he said. but not enough people could be persuaded to try it in the first place.

The group found that while most parents were satisfied with standard care (avoiding peanuts), doctors were put off by the “heavy handouts” parforzia administration required. Perhaps doctors weren’t making enough money to use their products, but Nestlé was the first to be beaten by the US allergy market, a fragmented sector dominated by allergen extracts. is not a major company.

Palforzia is nearing a redemption decision in Europe, and it’s too early to tell if the same issue will arise, Behar said. Nestlé probably expects this to be the case.

After investing approximately $3 billion in Aimmune through various financings, we are about to incur significant impairment charges. The Health Sciences segment is currently focused on consumer care (vitamins, minerals and supplements) and medical nutrition, with no additional pharmaceutical M&A planned.

Anyone else on the block?

So what does that drug portfolio look like? Seres is the biggest bet Nestlé has made after Aimmune, a microbiome company that has received about $300 million in licensing fees to date.A major project with another $125 million slated, he said if SER-109 recurs C difficile Infectious disease, FDA approval. A decision is expected in April next year. Mr. Behar is also a director of his Seres.

Ceres’ name is featured in the Nestlé Health Sciences slide deck in the section titled ‘Breaking Partnerships’, and biotech’s microbiome expertise fits into the Swiss Group’s functional food business. And there is definitely an unmet need for treatment of resistance. C diffHowever, it is worth noting that SER-109 was to be marketed through Aimmune Business.

Subsequent Seres projects for ulcerative colitis feel more vulnerable, but in any event the remaining value of these remains largely unrecognized after the failure of the lead candidate in Phase 2 earlier this year. Microbiome approaches have promised much promise in inflammatory bowel disease but have provided little clinical evidence, with Takeda stepping away from a similar project from Finch earlier this year.

This year’s deal with Nestlé and Enterome suggests the Swiss group still sees a future in the microbiome, and the French group’s name was also included under the partnership. The term extracted by and Seres refers to products intended for the prescription drug market, not over-the-counter dietary supplements, and perhaps not medical nutrition.

“We take what we learn [from Palforzia] Very seriously,” Behar said. The message for investors is clear. Nestlé, having first-hand experience with new drug launches, will never make the same mistake twice.