NHSc tackles weight loss with “shape-shifting” capsule
12 Aug 2020 --- Nestlé Health Science (NHSc) and Israel-based biomedical company Epitomee have entered into a strategic partnership to develop and commercialize a polymer-based ingestible capsule aimed at promoting weight loss and digestive health. Under the terms of the agreement, Epitomee grants NHSc exclusive and global commercial rights to use the product in the weight loss market and potentially to address other disorders, including prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes.
Describing the deal as “transformational” and packed with opportunities for millions of people with obesity and other metabolic issues, Dr. Dan Hashimshony, CEO of Epitomee, welcomes the collaboration.
“This deal is a recognition of the good science, the hard work, commitment and vision of our team. NHSc is an ideal strategic partner for Epitomee. Its global reach, strategic intent to develop science-based nutritional health solutions and focus on fighting metabolic disorders will be instrumental to Epitomee’s worldwide commercialization success,” he underscores.
Epitomee has developed a proprietary ingestible device technology to address metabolic disorders. The Epitomee gastric retention platform synergistically balances ingestible devices and the body’s native mechanism to tackle prevalent chronic diseases at their core. The capsules are drug-free, self-administered and touted as “shape-shifting.”
“The R&D that Epitomee is doing is very promising. The commercialization of the product [is] an innovative approach to reducing weight and managing other associated metabolic health co-morbidities,” says Hans-Jürgen Wörle, Chief Scientific & Medical Officer of NHSc.
Nestlé has notably made several investments in diabetes research and product development. NHSc previously signed a strategic partnership with biotechnology company Valbiotis for the development and global commercialization of Totum-63. The patented combination of five plant extracts is specifically designed to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in prediabetics.
Epitomee creates a balance between ingestible devices and the body’s native mechanisms, tackling prevalent chronic diseases (Credit: Epitomee).In January, Nestlé Research found in a first-of-its-kind study called EarlyBird that the earliest event leading to prediabetes is an early dysfunction of the beta-cell – the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels – independent of body weight.
Capsule innovation
Other capsule technology innovation is also taking off within the nutrition industry, despite consumers’ rising pill fatigue.
A notable example from last November is a collaboration between microbial sciences company Seed Health and digital health company Atmo Biosciences. Their partnership unveiled an ingestible gas-sensing capsule technology that monitors key gases produced within the gut in real-time.
Diabetes prevention
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of all deaths attributable to high blood glucose occur before the age of 70 years. It estimates that diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2016. With its prevalence growing more rapidly in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries, diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation, the organization highlights.
As diabetes is increasingly linked with obesity, weight loss is seen as a key means of avoiding the disease altogether. Meanwhile, NutritionInsight recently reported that industry is taking note of a shift away from weight loss and toward holistic weight management to maintain overall health and well-being.
Industry has also been keen on helping consumers take a preventive approach toward their health and wellbeing. With a new Series A financing round, Joywell Foods is set to continue developing its naturally sweet protein portfolio to tackle overconsumption of sugar, which often leads to diabetes. Also, ketone monoester drinks may prove a viable way to help control blood sugar in people with diabetes or prediabetes.
In other strides to prevent diabetes, the American Heart Association urged routine healthcare visits to include some form of dietary assessment and counseling in a public statement this week. UK-based Obesity Health Alliance shared with NutritionInsight in June that governments must also play a critical role in preventing diabetes through public health recommendations, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened obesity concerns.
By Anni Schleicher
