Nestle buys rights to milk-allergy test from French company DBV

Geneva: Nestle SA agreed to pay DBV Technologies SA, a French developer of therapeutic skin patches, as much as €100 million (Dh409 million, $110 million) for the right to sell an experimental test to detect milk allergy, the most common food allergy in children. Nestle will pay the Montrouge-based company €10 million upfront for development of the test, which Nestle will have the right to sell globally pending regulatory approval, DBV said in a statement Tuesday. DBV said it will fund development and expects to ask authorities for clearance by 2021. Nestle aims to build a $10 billion business out of its health-science unit, created in 2011 to fight chronic diseases.