Valbiotis: share price plummets, Nestlé agreement terminated

(CercleFinance.com) - Valbiotis fell sharply on Tuesday morning on the Paris Bourse after announcing the end of its licensing and supply agreement with Nestlé.


The French laboratory will consequently take over all rights to Totum.63, its plant-based dietary supplement dedicated to the management of pre-diabetes and the early stages of type 2 diabetes.

'The termination of this agreement obviously comes as a real surprise, given that Nestlé Health Science had borne the development costs and that Totum.63 was ready to be marketed by the end of the year", reacted Oddo BHF analysts.

The research consultancy also downgraded its recommendation on the share, to 'neutral' from 'outperform'.

'This break with a major nutrition player is not linked to Totum.63 or to relations with Valbiotis, but to a strategic turnaround at Nestlé Health Science, with a redefinition of the Group's priorities after experiencing difficulties in 2023', temper the teams at Invest Securities.

'Symbolizing these difficulties, Nestlé had appointed a new Health Science franchise director in September 2023', recalls the brokerage firm.

With a cash position of 25 million euros at the end of 2023, Valbiotis says it is ready to launch its product directly in France in the first half of 2025.

However, this morning, the market was punished by the uncertainties surrounding international marketing, which will require the support of a partner.

At 10:45 a.m., the French laboratory's share price was down over 45%, by far the biggest drop on the Paris Bourse.

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