Phytopharm, the UK start-up Unilever dumped in November after spending more than ?20m euros in a failed attempt to develop a hoodia-based weight management product, says it is in discussions with major food and food supplements players about the South African fruit extract.

Some of the potential partners were “of a similar profile to Unilever” but interim chief operating officer, Keith Thomson, said the company was “open to exploring collaborative structures” with European and international partners. (more…)