GSK and STEER reach out-of-court settlement over production technology

The UK-based Glaxo Smith Kline Group (GSK) has reached an out-of-court settlement with the STEER Engineering over technology used to produce Horlicks.

In December 2018, India-based developer of advanced materials platform technologies STEER filed a case against GlaxoSmithKline Group (GSK). It said that it had provided technology and information to GSK for producing Horlicks after GSK announced a deal with Hindustan Unilever for its Consumer Healthcare business in India, leading to IP issues that have since been settled. STEER appealed to the court and sought protection for its the technology and information it provided to GSK.

As part of the settlement, GSK acknowledged STEER’s contribution to creating a ‘step-change’ technology to produce Horlicks.

In a public statement, GSK said: “Using STEER’s state-of-the-art technology, high-quality extruders, and dedicated personnel, the project has brought a new-to-world technology to fruition, involving numerous improvements compared to the traditional way Horlicks is made.

“The new process requires only half the footprint of a traditional factory, uses a fifth of the water and reduces the energy usage by 80%.”

Headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, STEER Engineering produces advanced materials platform technologies. It says that these technologies transform the functionality of food and nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and biomaterials.

Dr Babu Padmanabhan established the company in 1993. It currently has clients located across 39 countries.

Commenting on the settlement, Dr Babu Padmanabhan said: “There is no other technology available in the market that has this immense cost-benefit and extraordinary performance. As well as Horlicks, this technology can be used for the manufacture of other food ingredients.

“STEER will continue to remain focused on supporting India’s quest to bridge the nutrition gap and help ensure food supply-demand stability.”