The Virginia-based candy and food conglomerate has for more than a decade pursued research on the possible health benefits of cocoa flavanols, compounds contained in one of the basic ingredients of chocolate.

As about 20 Mars-funded researchers gathered in Lucerne, Switzerland, to discuss their latest findings, the company announced that it foresees a possible line of pharmaceuticals growing out of the work, and that it is being pursued by drug companies interested in the medical applications of cocoa.

``We now know we have some intellectual property that pharmaceutical companies are interested in,'' spokeswoman Marlene Machut said.

Discussions with the drug firms included possible licensing and joint-venture agreements for drugs based on cocoa flavanol molecules that can be synthesized in a laboratory.

Whether M&Ms have more in common with aspirin than their shape remains a matter of dispute. Some nutrition experts dismiss out of hand Mars' claim that the flavanols found in cocoa are as beneficial as the company contends.

``This is about selling chocolate,'' said Marion Nestle, a New York University professor of nutrition, food studies and public health, who dismissed the idea of cocoa-based medicines. ``Mars is only doing this because it wants people to eat more and more M&Ms.''

But the possibilities have been enough for Mars, a privately held firm, to spend millions of dollars each year on flavanol research and to develop snack foods based on flavanol content.

The two-day Lucerne conference included Mars-funded researchers from institutions such as Harvard and the University of California as well as European universities, who presented papers on the consumption of cocoa flavanols and things such as increased blood flow to the brain.

The company said cocoa flavanols had an ``aspirin-like effect'' that might aid in staving off blood clotting and lead to the prevention of strokes and other vascular ailments. Increased blood flow from ingesting cocoa flavanols might also help fight diseases such as diabetes and dementia.

``The mounting scientific evidence on cocoa flavanols is extraordinary,'' said Norman Hollenberg, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School whose research on cocoa flavanols has been largely funded by Mars.``This is a scientific breakthrough that could well lead to a medical breakthrough.''

Mars is owned by the three grandchildren of founder Frank Mars. They have a combined worth of more than US$30 billion, according to Forbes. The company said it had US$18 billion (HK$140.4 billion) in revenue last year. THE WASHINGTON POST