UK cash fuels Atlantis expansion

Michael Whittaker said local investment had not been an option. Photo / Supplied

An Auckland medicine management firm says the $20 million investment it has received from a British private equity fund will allow it to speed up its global expansion plans.

The investment from London's White Cloud Capital gives it a 50 per cent stake in Auckland-based Atlantis Healthcare, which develops tailor-made programmes that help patients adhere to their prescribed medical treatment.

Atlantis Healthcare chief executive Michael Whittaker said investment from New Zealand was never an option for the firm.

"We needed a Northern Hemisphere-based group who could connect us to the people we needed to connect to and realise what we want to achieve," he said.

Whittaker said part of the capital gained from the White Cloud deal would be used to expand its European presence, where the company currently ran four programmes in five countries and had experienced more than 100 per cent growth since its arrival on the continent.

"Europe's a big growth market and a big opportunity for us."

The firm's programmes improved efficiency and saved healthcare providers the cost of patients not finishing their treatment and getting sick again, Whittaker said, which would be appreciated in Europe as the impact of government austerity measures set in and healthcare budgets were cut.

He said another region of interest for Atlantis was the Middle East, where the incidence of diabetes was as high as 20 per cent in countries such as the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE Government recognised the savings it could gain from its citizens sticking to their correct courses of medication, Whittaker said.

"There's a significant public health challenge that the [UAE] Government has in terms of its costs, so we're talking with a number of parties there - governmental agencies are some of them - about what our entry point is into that wider region."

Whittaker said Atlantis also planned to expand its existing presence in Southeast Asia and set up a New Zealand-based research institute to study the issue of medical non-adherence.

White Clouds's founding partner Nicholas Watkins will join the Atlantis board of directors, with former Fisher & Paykel Appliances chairman Gary Paykel.

Paykel said Atlantis was bringing fresh thinking to a crucial issue facing many countries - how to improve the health outcomes of populations in an economically viable way.

A 2009 report by the New England Healthcare Institute estimated that non-adherence cost the US healthcare system $407 billion a year.

Whittaker said Atlantis had no plans to enter the US market, as it had plenty of work on its plate already.

PLAN FROM ATLANTIS

*Atlantis Healthcare founded in 1996.

*Has experienced 30-35 per cent growth since 2005, unaffected by the global downturn.

*Develops and manages programmes that help patients stick to prescribed courses of treatment.

*Programmes utilise email and text messaging, as well as tailor-made publications and Atlantis' team of nurses.

*Currently manages 45 patient programmes in nine countries, and has 120 staff working in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.