Nestlé Health Science acquires personalized medicine platform
The food giant continues to expand as LivingMatrix joins the Atrium Professional Brands business portfolio.
Atrium Innovations, a Nestlé Health Science company, said it is expanding with the acquisition of LivingMatrix. San Francisco-based LivingMatrix is a personalized functional medicine platform that uses technology-based data and algorithms to leverage healthcare providers.
The platform was designed by clinicians to help practitioners work with patients to effectively create personalized care plans and track patient health outcomes.
Taking healthcare to new heights
Joy Devins, chief strategic leader of Atrium Innovations, said the addition of LivingMatrix to the Atrium Innovations growing portfolio of personalized medicine will further elevate the way doctors and patients view and use healthcare.
Priya Kamani, founder and CEO of LivingMatrix, said “The launch of the LivingMatrix platform has been a critical turning point for personalized and functional medicine and now, with the support of the Atrium Innovations and Nestlé Health Science family, we look forward to breaking even more barriers. This partnership brings opportunities to scale the business and accelerate our ability to drive and support additional research studies to expand the evidence base for effectively addressing chronic conditions.”
Kyle Bliffert, president of Atrium Innovations, said the acquisition will help them expand their role in personalization within the medical professional and consumer spaces. “The addition of LivingMatrix will allow us to take the next steps in leading the future of personalized health management. Our goal is to further scale our personalization platform through integrating LivingMatrix with our existing PureGenomics platform and future healthcare provider patient management systems providing the most comprehensive solution in the industry.”
Acquisitions Strategy
The Swiss food giant owns over 2,000 brands spanning across 150 countries. Nestlé products include confections, coffee, bottled water, cereals, healthcare nutrition, soups, frozen foods and pet food, to name a few.
Nestlé's acquired dietary supplements manufacturer Atrium Innovations for $2.3 billion in 2017.
With consumer demand for personalized nutrition only increasing, Nestlé also acquired Persona, formally Vitamin Packs, for an undisclosed amount. Nestlé Health Science added Persona to its Atrium Professional Brands business in 2019.
The company did not disclose how much the recent acquisition of LivingMatrix cost.
Prior to LivingMatrix, Nestlé announced in November that they will partner with the Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) at the University of California San Diego to enhance its understanding about how the microbiome affects human health, a move that could lead to new products.
Nestlé’s aggressive expansion policy will likely lead to further acquisitions. The company's 2018 annual report noted that "small to medium-sized acquisitions can offer a fast and cost-effective way to embrace new capabilities or business models. We are also actively divesting businesses that are non-core and where we have limited ability to win."
Nestlé, which is based in Vevey, Switzerland, generated about $93.4 billion in 2018, according to its most recent annual report.
