Nestle Deal Seeks to Tap Pomegranate's Anti-Aging Potential

(Bloomberg) -- Nestle SA bought a stake in a Swiss startup that’s working to reverse the effects of aging on muscles with nutrients based on a substance in pomegranates.

The world’s largest food company will get global rights to develop products such as supplements and beverages that use technology from Lausanne-based Amazentis SA, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. They didn’t disclose financial details.

Amazentis said its urolithin A technology mimics the effect of certain foods such as pomegranates which are believed to clean up damage in cellular powerhouses called mitochrondia. The company was founded in 2007 by Patrick Aebischer and Chris Rinsch. Aebischer, a former president of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, serves on Nestle’s board.

Nestle has spent years trying to develop foods and beverages that would combat chronic ailments such as diabetes and obesity. While the Swiss company has yet to come up with a blockbuster, the work has yielded products such as Vitaflo for rare metabolic diseases.

To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, John Lauerman

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