UK acquisition for New Zealand Pharmaceuticals

UK acquisition for New Zealand Pharmaceuticals

Palmerston North, New Zealand. (3 September 2009): New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NZP) has purchased Dextra Laboratories which was a UK subsidiary of the drug development company, Summit Plc.

NZP’s Managing Director Dr Richard Garland said that this significant investment will enable NZP to expand into new markets and offer a more diversified range of products.

“Dextra’s business is to develop complex carbohydrates and other synthetic organic chemicals of interest to drug development companies. This investment brings NZP much closer to the northern hemisphere drug development market and with Dextra’s 20 technical staff including 12 PhD chemists, adds a huge body of chemical synthesis technology to the company.”

Two years ago, NZP invested $10 million in a new GMP quality manufacturing unit at its base in Palmerston North. Dr Garland said that with the integration of Dextra’s skill-set of medicinal and synthetic chemistry added to the existing collaboration with IRL’s carbohydrate research team and its Glycosyn chemical synthesis unit, the group now provides a suite of specialty products and services to the rapidly growing and evolving glycotherapeutics area. “We will provide clients with a seamless link between drug discovery through clinical trials and into larger scale API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) manufacturing.” Dr Garland said.

NZP, a Palmerston North based private company, exports over 95 percent of its products around the world. It is 51% owned by Direct Capital (a leading New Zealand private equity and venture capital firm) and BioPacificVentures, with the remaining 49% of shares held by NZP management and staff. Direct Capital’s Bill Kermode said: “The potential for this type of acquisition to help broaden NZP from its very successful bile acid business was one of the reasons we invested in NZP four years ago.”

Due to its global focus, NZP has worked closely with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise for a number of years. NZTE’s Group General Manager Operations Peter Lennox said: “NZTE congratulates NZP on their purchase of Dextra as a strategic acquisition to improve and expand their overall presence in the European market place. In this current economic climate, it is even more critical that New Zealand companies continue to grow and expand internationally, and we look forward to continuing to work with NZP.”

About New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
New Zealand Pharmaceuticals (NZP) has been manufacturing high purity biochemicals since 1971 from its base in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The company’s products are either extracted and purified from natural raw materials or synthesised small molecules and are supplied to the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health food industries. 
www.nzp.co.nz

About Dextra
Based at the Science and Technology Centre at the University of Reading, in Berkshire, United Kingdom, Dextra is a specialist chemistry and analytical services business with a strong process development and GMP manufacturing capability. As well as custom synthesis services, Dextra provides a range of over 1000 catalogue products including carbohydrate building blocks and combinatorial libraries. Their recently opened cGMP facility enables the supply of material for early phase clinical trials. The company has also developed a strong IP position comprising both extensive know-how and patents in a number of areas; most notably its blood group antigen products which are finding application in plasma purification and organ transplantation.
www.dextra-labs.co.uk

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