A Montreal phramaceutical company focused on functional foods and nutraceuticals plans to work with one of the world’s biggest dairy firms on new technologies to cut cholesterol levels in dairy products.
Micropharma Ltd. has picked up a US$8 million equity investment from the research arm of French dairy giant Danone, as part of a partnership agreement announced Monday.
Micropharma and Danone Research said they plan to work closely in the coming months “to develop a new marketable product.”
The equity investment is meant to allow “greater financial flexibility to support Micropharma’s research and activities in cardiovascular health and to develop other innovative projects,” the companies said in their release.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures come down from highs
Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were weaker on Monday, coming down from recent highs.
“Danone’s $8 million investment in Canadian biological sciences is significant. For Micropharma, Danone Research is the ideal partner,” Micropharma CEO Ryan Elliott Jones said in the release.
Micropharma’s broader research focus is the development of “novel and commercial probiotic and enzymatic solutions for metabolic diseases.”
“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,” Jones said.
Danone Research said its involvement in this partnership “goes well beyond financing” and will include the experience and expertise of Danone’s senior executives “not only on the board of directors but also the scientific committee.”
Frederic Rene, Danone’s vice-president for dairy research and development, described Micropharma as “an innovative company that conducts promising research in this field.”
Danone’s operations in Canada, based at Boucherville, Que., are largely in the yogurt market, including the Activia, Danino, DanActive and Silhouette brands, generating total Canadian revenues of over C$530 million. The parent Danone Group posts worldwide annual revenues of about C$19 billion.
