11 September 2006

Record deals recently signed between international pharmaceutical companies and government owned Industrial Research Ltd, demonstrate New Zealand’s world-class capability within biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Industrial Research Ltd has also signed a major contract with Australian based biotechnology company Starpharma Holdings to manufacture the active ingredient for a new drug designed to prevent HIV- AIDS.

Earlier this year Industrial Research Ltd’s licensee, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc, announced multimillion dollar sub-licensing deals with two international pharmaceutical companies for two drugs under development it had discovered in association with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

The financial returns from these deals are expected to be in the millions of dollars and have delivered the Australasian biotechnology industry’s biggest year on record.

Investment New Zealand’s Manager for Biotechnology, Michelle Sullivan, says Industrial Research Ltd’s success is representative of New Zealand’s capabilities in experimental high-technology areas combined with the ability to commercialise that innovation.

“New Zealand is increasingly regarded for its scientific excellence because of the work done by organisations such as Industrial Research Ltd which is now recognised as having the largest combined concentration of carbohydrate chemistry and manufacturing expertise in the world,” says Ms Sullivan.

The CEO of Industrial Research Ltd, Shaun Coffey, says the deal with Starpharma is IRL’s second largest commercial contract since the company was established in 1992.

“The arrangement with Starpharma builds on a highly successful business relationship we have developed with the company over several years,” he says.

He cites the support of the Australia New Zealand Biotechnology Partnership fund, as a key factor in the Starpharma success.

The Australia New Zealand Biotechnology Partnership Fund, administered by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, is designed to facilitate and accelerate trans-Tasman biotechnology industry collaboration. The fund was established to assist organisations looking to work with others in the region – a region that is already the world’s fifth largest biotechnology hub and that is emerging as an important global player.

The international sublicensing deals involve two drugs that are being developed for the treatment of cancer and auto-immune diseases.

These drugs were licensed to BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, which undertook the initial clinical trials. Rights to the anti-cancer drug outside North America have now been sub-licensed to MundiPharma and the drug for controlling auto-immune diseases to Roche.

The Roche deal has the potential to continue to bring in an ongoing share of around US$530 million in progress payments, with royalties from sales in addition if the drug successfully makes it through to market.

That deal was itself the fifth largest biotech-pharma deal in the world for 2005, says Shaun Coffey.

The next generation of drug candidates underway from the same Industrial Research Ltd development team are now progressing into pre-clinical development in the fields of cancer and anti-bacterial treatment.

Shaun Coffey says Industrial Research Ltd has a strong focus on chemistry, with its business unit GlycoSyn using chemical synthesis to provide contract-based discovery, process development and manufacture of drug candidates.

Several key biotechnology companies have made recent announcements of success stories built on the expertise at Industrial Research Ltd.

The organisation was a key part of a group of local service suppliers that enabled New Zealand company Antipodean Pharmaceuticals to develop a drug, discovered at the University of Otago, with the potential to treat Parkinson’s Disease.

For more information, please contact:

michelle.sullivan@investmentnz.govt.nz

+64 9 966 9205