29 May 2007

Surrounded by a flurry of international deals, this year’s NZBio conference had the appropriate title of ‘Imaginative Partnering – Innovative Science’. The conference – the organisation’s third – was attended by both international and domestic scientists, investors and business leaders.

Conference coordinator, Nancy Yopp, says that not only have total registration numbers doubled since 2003 (from 300 to 600) but there has also been an increase in exhibitor numbers, with more international and industry representatives reserving booth space. The event also drew nearly 100 international registrations and 30 international speakers. Among them, says Yopp, were heavy hitters from the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Europe and Australia.

Susan Pond, Managing Director at Johnson & Johnson Research, Sydney, addressed the conference on how New Zealand can engage with multinational companies; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder of India’s Biocon, spoke on the logic of a New Zealand-India connection; and partner Erich Sieber from Switzerland-based Inventages discussed New Zealand’s opportunities in the growing global interest in functional foods. Other international speakers included John Bedbrook and Michael Gropp from the US, Stan Roberts from the UK and Andreas Renz from Germany.

“This year’s conference theme ‘Imaginative Partnering-Innovative Science’ provided an opportunity to explore the practice of business partnering in the biotechnology industry and to also discover distinctly local approaches,” says NZBio Chief Executive Brian Ward.

Both within and outside the conference, there has been plenty of activity along those lines. In March, BLIS Technologies and Nestlé Nutrition (a unit of Nestlé SA) agreed to carry out research and development of BLIS probiotics for use in infant nutrition products, specifically targeting upper respiratory tract infections. Also in March, ICP Biotechnology announced an investment by Swiss fund manager Cantara on behalf of Crescent International, a wholly owned subsidiary of IICG (Bahamas).

Shortly after the conference, Auckland-based bio-fuel company LanzaTech announced the securing of US$3.5 million from Khosla Ventures, led by Vinod Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems. LanzaTech is working on a process to turn waste carbon monoxide into ethanol, and co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Sean Simpson told The New York Times that the company would use the venture investment to establish a pilot plant and perform the engineering to prepare for commercial-scale ethanol production.

Building international partnerships has been a focus for both NZBio and Investment New Zealand, says Investment New Zealand Biotechnology Investment Manager Michelle Sullivan. “The conference is a great opportunity for domestic and international leaders to interact.”

Yopp says that not only does post-conference analysis show that attendees stayed involved for the full three days of the conference, but anecdotal comments were that the networking opportunities were better than ever. In addition to plenary and break-out sessions, external organisations including James and Wells and Highbury conducted workshops on intellectual property protection and business growth and development respectively. Next year, says Yopp, the organisation hopes to expand the hands-on workshop offerings to include technical topics.

The vibrancy of New Zealand’s human pharmaceutical development was highlighted at the conference when Auckland-based CoDa Therapeutics (NZ) received the inaugural NZBio Deal of the Year Award. CoDa, a spin-out of the University of Auckland, has developed two novel platforms for tissue repair, and the company – which is partnered with San Diego-based Brad Duft and CoDa Therapeutics – has raised US$20 million to date in Series A venture capital funding with Domain Associates and GBS Venture Partners. It says its lead product, Nexagon TM, may be commercialised by 2010.

CoDa isn’t the only organisation to be making the news with serious fundraising; in April, Protemix Corporation raised US$14.5 million in the first close of a Series A preferred financing. The round was co-led by Novartis Venture Fund (the venture investment arm of Novartis AG) and NovaQuest, the strategic partnering group of Quintiles Transnational Corporation, along with the previous major investor group led by Birnie Capital.

“This is a very exciting time for the New Zealand biotech industry,” says Sullivan. “There’s a real vibrancy and the high level of international speakers at the conference as well as international deals surrounding it are evidence of that.”

NZBio’s Ward agrees. “The NZBio conference just keeps on getting better and better,” he says. “What is most satisfying is the growth in interest from potential investors and corporate partners. This conference is a unique window into New Zealand’s biotechnology industry.”

For more information, please contact:

michelle.sullivan@investmentnz.govt.nz

+64 9 966 9205