Medtronic to acquire medical data firm Nutrino Health to boost diabetes management offering

22 Nov 2018 --- Medtronic, a provider of medical technology, is to acquire Nutrino Health, a provider of nutrition-related data services, analytics and technologies. The announcement comes at a time when the industry is taking note of the potential of advanced technologies and big data to answer pertinent, global issues surrounding health and nutrition.

Food and nutrition have been recognized as central components in effective diabetes management, and the companies reportedly see an opportunity to improve clinical outcomes for people with diabetes by integrating Nutrino's extensive food analysis infrastructure, nutrition science expertise and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven personalized insights with Medtronic's technology and future innovations.

Founded by Jonathan Lipnik and Dr. Yaron Hadad, Nutrino strives for improved universal health using AI-led analysis of how nutritional intake will affect a person's health. Nutrino has also built a food database and nutrition data insights platform, collating data from millions of access points and food items globally. The company offers its users a FoodPrint, a personalized assessment of their personal response to different foods. 

The Diabetes Group at Medtronic focuses on innovating diabetes management resources to improve the lives of people with diabetes. Medtronic will add Nutrino's food database, food analysis system and nutrition-science expertise to its capabilities, upon closing of the transaction. 

Nutrino has been developing algorithms to predict glycemic responses to food. By leveraging Nutrino's technology and infrastructure with continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and industry-leading closed loop systems, Medtronic will seek to reduce the substantial physical and mental burden of food and nutrition management for people with diabetes.

“Bringing Nutrino and their nutrition-related expertise into our organization will give us a substantial differentiator in the diabetes industry and accelerate our progress to help people with diabetes live with greater freedom and better health,” says Hooman Hakami, Executive Vice President and President of the Diabetes Group at Medtronic. “The Nutrino team has been an outstanding partner over the past few years. We are excited to welcome them to our team, and I have no doubt that, together, we will make a profound impact on the lives of people with diabetes.”

This transaction will build on a relationship which originated in June 2016. Nutrino played a role in recent US product introductions from Medtronic, including the updated iPro2 myLog app used with professional CGM solutions, as well as the Sugar.IQ diabetes assistant app used with the Guardian Connect smart CGM system.

The acquisition is expected to close in Medtronic's third fiscal quarter, ending January 25, 2019, subject to the satisfaction of certain customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to be neutral to fiscal year 2019 earnings per share and meet Medtronic's long-term financial metrics for acquisitions. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The Nutrino team is passionate about personalized nutrition data services and technologies. Our work in the diabetes space is helping to address the needs of a growing population that needs better tools and guidance,” says Glassman. “We are excited to now focus completely on the intersection of nutrition and diabetes to help more people be able to better manage their condition.”

Industry interest in the capabilities of advanced technologies such as AI has been on the rise this year. In October, a report  by the Institute for the Future and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, entitled Good Food is Good Business, highlighted strategies for food companies to combine emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and synthetic biology, with established production strategies and traditional food wisdom to produce affordable, nutritious food.

Earlier this month, BASF launched a sports nutrition ingredient containing a unique set of plant-based peptides identified using AI for regulating inflammation. Coined PeptAIde, the ingredient was developed as part of a collaboration between BASF and biotech company Nuritas to discover new bioactive peptides to meet evolving consumer needs.