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Danone Partners With Micropharma

New cardiovascular product developments are at the heart of the deal.

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By: Joanna Cosgrove

Online Editor

Danone Research, a unit of Danone Inc., recently entered into a partnership agreement with Micropharma Limited, a Canadian firm headquartered in Montreal that specializes in biological sciences, to develop new technologies in cholesterol reduction for dairy products.
 
Micropharma will provide expertise combined with their patented technology in cardiovascular health, while Danone Research will bring its experience, market knowledge and equity financing amounting to $8 million.
As a company, Micropharma Limited’s goal is to apply a unique approach to discover novel and commercial probiotic and enzymatic solutions for metabolic diseases. Micropharma applies a holistic method to probiotic and enzyme therapies by focusing first on the disease and then developing the most effective treatment for that condition. This method is supported by research and development to ensure the most effective products for consumers.
Among Micropharma’s chief focuses, in addition to heart disease, are diabetes, obesity, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease, wound treatment and infections. It is in part supported by the National Research Council of Canada and its Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and its program Ideas to Innovation (NSERC and NSERC I2I).
“Danone’s $8-million investment in Canadian biological sciences is significant. For Micropharma, Danone Research is the ideal partner,” commented Ryan Elliott Jones, president and chief executive officer of Micropharma. “We are excited about the prospects for 2010, a year in which we will work to support our ambitious research and development program, secure new partnerships and patents, and increase our emphasis on product and business development.”
Frédéric René, Danone’s vice-president, research and development, dairy, concurred. “Inspired by its mission, Danone Research attaches great importance to cardiovascular health,” he said. “For this reason, we are proud to invest in Micropharma, an innovative company that conducts promising research in this field.”
With its products sold on five continents and in more than 120 countries, Danone is a market leader in four health food market businesses: fresh dairy products (ranked number one worldwide), water (ranked number two in the bottled water market), baby food (ranked number two worldwide) and medical nutrition. In the coming months, Micropharma and Danone Research will make use of Danone’s capital injection to develop new marketable products.
 
Danone Research’s involvement in the partnership extends beyond simply financing. “Micropharma can count on the experience and expertise of Danone’s senior executives, which will serve not only on the Board of Directors but also the scientific committee,” said Anne-Julie Maltais, external communication manager, Danone Inc., Québec, Canada.

Though Ms. Maltais declined to provide specifics about the types of products likely to materialize out of the partnership, it’s clear that probiotics are at the forefront of interest. Micropharma currently holds a patent for its Cardioviva cardiovascular health technology, a novel, disease-specific probiotic for lowering low density lipoprotein cholesterol. The noteworthy product, which may or may not be related to the partnership, is scheduled to debut as a dietary supplement in the U.S. and Canada sometime next year.

Ms. Maltais said that future partnerships in this vein are always a possibility for Danone Research. “It’s in our mission to collaborate closely with the best researchers in the fields that interest us,” she said. “Danone Research established more than 200 partnerships worldwide including l’Institut Pasteur in France and their study on probiotics, as well as the University of Saint Louis in the U.S. and their research program on the interactions of intestinal bacteria and the human genome.”

Ms. Maltais went on to add that Danone Canada also established partnerships with the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, the St. Joseph Healthcare foundation in Hamilton and with Gregor Reid, who is the director of the Canadian Research and Development Centre for Probiotics in London. “We are always looking for good partnerships,” she said.

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