Nestle Buys Medical Nutrition Product from Allergan

Nestle signed an asset purchase agreement with global pharmaceutical firm Allergan for the acquisition of Zenpep, a medication used for gastrointestinal conditions, the food and beverage giant said Monday. 

“Nestle’s acquisition of Zenpep is a strategic decision that will enhance our growing medical nutrition portfolio,” the chief executive officer of Nestle Health Science, Greg Behar, said in a company press release. “This is a significant opportunity for our business in the United States to add a complementary product to our existing range of nutrition products that support food ingestion, digestion, and absorption. We have extensive experience in Zenpep’s therapeutic areas of digestive diseases through our medical nutrition business and will leverage those capabilities as we grow this new business.”

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Currently sold in the U.S., Zenpep helps patients with Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) to digest food. In 2018, the medication brought in net sales of $237 million, according to Nestle.

“We are excited to leverage our broad capabilities and expand our team to drive rapid growth of this new acquisition,” said Anna Mohl, business executive officer of Nestle Health Science USA, in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming all Zenpep employees who will join our team.”

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction will close when the merger of Allergan and AbbVie reaches completion. 

Nestle inaugurated a $70 million Health Science research and development facility, the Nestle Product Technology Center, in Bridgewater, NJ in December 2018. The site was opened to assist the Health Science business in developing new offerings in customer care, medical nutrition, and novel therapeutic nutrition. 

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