Nestle's buyout of San Diego–based Prometheus Laboratories marks a strategic shift by the Vevey, Switzerland–based food company into personalized medicine. Prometheus is a specialty pharma and diagnostics firm, focused on gastroenterology and oncology services to guide the use of targeted therapies. The financial terms were not disclosed, though the transaction is estimated at over $1.1 billion, and is being conducted by Nestle Health Science, a subsidiary formed in January to specialize in health nutrition. “I know there's not any other food company in the world that has created a division specifically to explore and exploit the overlap between pharmaceuticals and food,” says independent food industry consultant, James Amoroso, of Walchwil, Switzerland. By adding Prometheus, Nestle acquires a Crohn's disease prognostic test and a diagnostic for inflammatory bowel disease among others. It also pulls in rights to cancer drugs Proleukin, originated by Novartis of Basel, and Rencarex (girentuximab), a targeted antibody for targeting solid tumors licensed from Munich-based Wilex. Also recently, Nestle added nutritional products manufacturers Vitaflo of Liverpool, UK, and CM&D Pharma, of Munich. Nestle spent $1.9 billion on R&D in 2010. “They've got enough pure research going on, as well as applied research,” Amoroso says, “that they know there are areas to exploit.”