Merger talks under way for biotech businesses

By LIAM DANN

Two of the late Howard Paterson's biotech babies are to merge.

Directors of listed company Botry-Zen and unlisted PharmaZen announced yesterday that preliminary work on a merger had been carried out. Any move would be subject to shareholder approval of both companies, they said.

The Dunedin-based companies have been developing natural biotechnology products.

Botry-Zen has patented a biological control for the grape disease botrytis. PharmaZen has developed a number of colostrum-based health products for humans and animals.

Botry-Zen chairman Max Shepherd said the merger would provide the efficiency and critical mass of a single entity.

The directors of PharmaZen had also been looking for ways to provide shareholders with a market structure following the demise of the NZX unlisted market.

The directors expected to confirm their intentions by the end of next month, Shepherd said.

Paterson, one of New Zealand's richest men, was a director and founding shareholder in both companies. He died in Fiji in July.