Nestlé Health Science Invests in Protein Technology Pioneer Pronutria Biosciences
25 Feb 2016 --- Nestlé Health Science has made a strategic investment of US$ 42.5 million in Pronutria Biosciences (Cambridge, MA, USA) to advance amino acid and health research. Pronutria is pioneering a pipeline of oral therapeutic and nutritional biologics, called Pronutrein proteins. These target imbalances in amino acid profiles – the foundation of human protein – that are now understood to have underlying roles in a range of health conditions (e.g. neurological, muscle and liver disorders).
The proceeds from this financing will fund further clinical development of Pronutria's first-in-class lead product candidates, including PN–107 for muscle wasting indications, as well as the advancement of the company's pipeline of therapeutics to treat many other diseases impacted by amino acid dysregulation.
Nestlé Health Science CEO, Greg Behar, who will be taking a seat on the Pronutria Board of Directors, commented: “Across our existing business in Consumer Care, Medical Nutrition and Novel Therapeutic Nutrition, we are forging an innovation frontier for nutritional therapy in healthcare. Pronutria is bringing a paradigm changing science with new clinical approaches addressing unmet needs that are associated with significant health economic costs. We see strong potential in the technology platform and this unique partnership, given our healthcare expertise, existing portfolio and global coverage.”
Commenting upon the investment and the technology, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pronutria Robert Connelly, said: “We believe Nestlé Health Science can be an accelerator in taking our technology into transformational treatment across multiple conditions. Our research has revealed that amino acid dysregulation may cause and/or drive the onset of a number of serious conditions. We have shown the potential for these diseases to be mitigated or reversed by Pronutrein proteins that deliver a specific profile of regenerative amino acids.”
Pronutria is pioneering first-in-class medicines to treat or cure serious conditions where cell homeostasis has been disrupted by amino acid imbalances. This is achieved by using a systems pharmacology approach to deliver disease-specific amino acid compositions that improve the function of biological pathways and regenerate health.
This revolutionary new field has the potential to address critical unmet medical needs for the patients of more than 2,000 diseases where amino acids play a central role. The company is developing the first oral biologics, derived from the food proteome, that deliver disease-specific amino acid compositions to restore balance in disease pathways and regenerating cell function.
Pronutria states that it has reimagined the discovery process by combining a proprietary platform of over one billion potential candidates. Their platform is already validated across several indication areas with clinical-stage medicines in muscle, neurodegenerative and liver conditions. Developing both therapeutics and nutritional supplements are also planned.
