Investment to help Thorne expand business in Japan
Thorne announced this week a strategic investment from Mitsui, one of Japan’s largest trading companies and part of the Mitsui Group. The companies said that Mitsui plans to launch collaborations with other Japanese companies for wellness product development and distribution. The details of the investment were not disclosed.
This is the second significant overseas investment in privately held Thorne. The first came in 2011 from Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Helsinn Group.
“We are proud to partner with Mitsui because Mitsui is a great cultural fit for us due to their strong appreciation for science and research,” said Paul Jacobson, Thorne’s CEO. “By tapping into Mitsui’s $40 billion annual sales network, we will be able to expand our strategic relationships in ways we could not achieve alone.”
Jacobsen said the investment will allow Thorne, which manufactures a wide range of dietary supplements, to expand its US platform, paving the way for the company to broaden its reach in personalized health care by expanding into home testing platforms. Utilizing its large health care practitioner network, its research and content collaboration with Mayo Clinic, and its sophisticated analytical software, Jacobsen said the goal is to become the market leader in bringing prevention and wellness into the homes of consumers in 2018.
“As a result of this investment, we expect to make several big key announcements over the next two months as we present a new platform to the marketplace,” Jacobson said.
“We invested in Thorne’s supplement and testing platform because it meets the high-quality standards we set for ourselves in the heavily regulated Japanese market,” said Masami Yokoyama, general manager of Mitsui’s NutriScience Division.
Even before this week’s announcement, Thorne was on the move. The company is well along on building a 272,000 square foot manufacturing facility near Charleston, SC that will also serve as the company’s new headquarters. For years, Thorne was based in Sandpoint, a small town in northern Idaho.
