Kiwi company secures funding for international growth

19 May 2014

Kiwi company secures major funding to continue remarkable international growth

Auckland pharmaceutical company, AFT Pharmaceuticals, has secured major capital investment from United States and New Zealand investors that will allow the company to make further inroads into the global pharmaceutical market.

Capital Royalty (Houston, USA) and Milford Asset Management (Auckland) have collectively invested US$14M in equity in AFT Pharmaceuticals, with Capital Royalty providing additional long-term capital of up to US$30M from a structured loan facility. Capital Royalty invests in companies specialising in biopharmaceutical products and medical technologies.

Company founder and Managing Director, Dr Hartley Atkinson, says that AFT Pharmaceuticals remains very much a New Zealand company. AFT Pharmaceuticals’ founders and only shareholders to date, Atkinson Family interests, will retain almost 90% ownership of the company going forward. “This funding deal reects the international growth potential of the business. It just goes to show that if companies can develop their intellectual property and keep it here, you can run a successful global operation here in New Zealand,” said Dr Atkinson.

AFT Pharmaceuticals has an extensive, growing development portfolio of patented drug combination and ‘orphan drug’ products, as well as a unique drug device for intranasal delivery of therapeutic agents. AFT Pharmaceuticals will use the proceeds to increase its R&D activities and to build up existing business in Australia and its new markets in Asia, where AFT has ofces in both Malaysia and Singapore.

AFT Pharmaceuticals will also continue to out-license its prescription and OTC products in countries where it does not have an operating presence. “To date, we have out-licensing and distribution agreements in 42 countries around the world and building upon these arrangements will be a key activity,” said Dr Atkinson.

The investment announcement comes on the back of the discovery by AFT Pharmaceuticals of a major formulation error in many cold and u drugs used around the world. The discovery was published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and received international attention, including in New Zealand, Australia, China, and the United States.

ENDS

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