Grant helps firm win place in huge health market

ICPbio boss Dr Earl Stevens aims the company to be profitable later this year. Picture / Dean Purcell

Bleeding during surgery could be better controlled with the help of a product being developed by Auckland company ICP Biotechnology.

The company has been given a $402,832 grant from the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology towards an $805,000 project to develop two new plasma protein products to supply to companies making products to control bleeding.

About 200 different proteins are present in plasma - the straw-coloured liquid left over when all the red blood cells are removed.

ICPbio already removes three proteins from plasma for manufacturing media, serums and biochemicals used by other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Managing director Earl Stevens said the new protein products would be supplied to companies making products for a human health market worth up to US$700 million ($1.1 billion) a year. Supplying raw materials to companies undertaking research and development of final products gives ICPbio a lower risk profile.

"As a country and as a company we obviously don't have the financial stamina to take on the big markets and register drugs there and discover drugs," Stevens said.

"So we are doing what we think New Zealand can afford, which is to supply high-quality raw materials which these guys will use and if they are successful then our success grows; if they are not successful then, typically, another one turns up."

ICPbio expected the project would lead to routine manufacture of the proteins within six months and was targeting annual sales of up $10 million within a year.

"Ultimately we would like to be able to extract, say, something in the order of $40 million or $50 million a year from the sale of these products," Stevens said. Many biotechnology companies striving to develop finished products might not generate revenue for many years. Stevens bought ICPbio last year, floated it in May via a reverse listing and aims to be profitable later this year.

The company's financial forecast for the year to next March is for revenue of $22.8 million with trading profit of $5.4 million.

The Henderson-based firm has doubled factory-floor area to 4460 square metres and employs 70 people, with production running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The grant from the foundation was important because it enabled the firm to be more aggressive in its product development and reach the market earlier, Stevens said.

"We are pleased to have the foundation support our vision and growth into becoming a leading global manufacturer of high-value, high-quality biological products."