Vital Foods gets $4m for work on kiwifruit extracts

A cash injection for digestive disorders treatment manufacturer Vital Food Processors will help to expand international markets.

The Auckland company uses extracts from kiwifruit to make products for the supplement market to relieve symptoms of heartburn, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.

Australasian food, health and agbio venture capital fund BioPacificVentures is leading a $4 million investment in Vital, with NZX-listed Seeka Kiwifruit Industries as co-investor.

The company said the investment would be used to fund clinical trials of its products and expand international marketing.

BioPacificVentures executive director Howard Moore said Vital already had an international presence but without clinical trials it was difficult to get "real traction".

The key ingredient, Zyactinase, is manufactured using patented technology to extract and stabilise a protease enzyme complex from kiwifruit.

The products built on a long history of effective use of the fruit in traditional Chinese medicine.

Clinical trials for a product called Zyactin, used to treat heartburn, are expected to be completed by mid-year, followed by trials for other products.

Vital Food co-founder Bruce Donaldson said BioPacificVentures would contribute in many ways, "Not just through capital but also [through] its connections with global marketplaces in the food, beverage, biotech and health sectors".

The investment was announced yesterday at this week's NZBio conference, which also saw the launch by AgResearch of a new biotech company, PhytaGro, set up as a joint project with venture capitalists Finistere Partners.