Medtronic Acquires Nutrition Tech Firm Nutrino Health to Strengthen Diabetes Portfolio

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat official account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that Medtronic (NYSE ticker: MDT), a global leader in medical technology, has announced the acquisition of nutrition technology company Nutrino Health. The specific financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Medtronic stated that the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of January 2019.

Nutrino Health is a San Francisco-based startup aimed at helping individuals with various chronic diseases better manage their diet and medication. The company currently focuses primarily on the field of diabetes.

Medtronic stated that Nutrino Health provides data services, analytics, and technologies related to nutrition. The company plans to integrate Nutrino Health’s food analysis infrastructure, nutritional science expertise, and artificial intelligence platform into Medtronic’s Diabetes division, combining Nutrino Health’s predictive glycemic response algorithms with Medtronic’s Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system.

Image from the official Unsplash website

Medtronic and Nutrino Health began their collaboration as early as 2016. The initial agreement enabled patients to connect their continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and insulin pumps to smartphones via the Nutrino app and Medtronic’s MiniMed Connect system, allowing data from Medtronic devices to be exported to the Nutrino platform. This June, the two companies announced a new partnership to integrate Nutrino’s FoodPrint reporting technology into Medtronic’s iPro2 myLog app, enabling users to visualize how their bodies respond to different foods and understand the relationship between meals and glucose variability.

Regarding this acquisition, Hooman Hakami, Head of the Medtronic Diabetes Organization, stated, “Integrating Nutrino and its nutrition-related expertise into our organization will strengthen our leadership in the diabetes field and accelerate our progress. The Nutrino team has been a partner of Medtronic in recent years, and we will continue to work together for the benefit of patients with diabetes.”

Yael Glassman, CEO of Nutrino Health, stated in a press release: “The Nutrino team is passionate about delivering personalized nutrition data services. Our work in the field of diabetes helps meet the growing needs of patients, and Medtronic enables us to provide better devices and more specialized guidance, helping more people manage their condition effectively.”

In 2015, Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak stated that the company would focus on small-scale acquisitions and gradually expand its diabetes business. In addition to Nutrino Health, Medtronic’s acquisition targets included Corventis, a manufacturer of peel-and-stick wearable cardiac monitors, and Diabeter, a company specializing in diabetes care.

It is worth noting that Medtronic’s competitor, Dexcom, acquired TypeZero, a medical technology company focused on insulin algorithms, this August. How the two companies will compete in the diabetes field remains to be seen.