GlycoSyn lands significant pharmaceutical production deal
The active ingredient for a new drug designed to prevent genital herpes and HIV-AIDS will be manufactured in New Zealand with the signing of a major contract.
The contract is between Industrial Research Limited and Australian-based biotechnology company Starpharma Holdings Limited . Industrial Research’s GlycoSyn business unit in Wellington will make enough of the drug, a novel macromolecule called a dendrimer, for forthcoming human trials.
The deal is the second largest commercial contract Industrial Research has secured since the company was established in 1992. The acting CEO of Industrial Research, Tony Price, said the contract with Starpharma is representative of the capacity for New Zealand to continue to win lucrative contracts in the international biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.
“This arrangement with IRL builds on the highly successful business relationship we have developed with Starpharma over the past five years.”
This contract would not have been possible were it not for the support of the Australia New Zealand Biotechnology Partnership fund operated by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, he said.