Food-pharma convergence? Keep an eye on Nestlé, says nutrition professor

There was a lot of discussion about the convergence of food and pharma at this week’s NutrEvent and NutriConference in Lille, France, but a €1bn+ Nestlé commitment does not a category make.

So says Renger Witkamp, PhD, Professor of Nutrition and Pharmacology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who, while excited by the prospect, said the real progress may come from outside expected channels.

“At this very moment I don’t see that the traditional food companies will really merge with pharma companies or will take over their drugs, their molecules, maybe with the exception of Nestlé…But I don’t think Nestlé will become a pharma company.”