Manawatu Investment Group has invested $1 million into a Palmerston North biotech start-up company. 

Polybatics designs biodegradable nano particles with functional proteins attached, which is used to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs. This new organic nanotechnology could drastically reduce the price of medication and make it more accessible.

It allows for biobeads to be manufactured on a large scale quickly and cheaply, and has potential in a variety of industries from vaccines to washing powders and food processing.

Polybatics founder Tracy Thompson said currently the beads were selling for
around US$10,000 a litre whereas it could be manufacturered for “a few
hundred [US] dollars” or 3% of the US$10,000 asking price.

Mr Thompson said the company represents a significant commercial opportunity for the Manawatu and New Zealand.

Mr Thompson said Polybatics could be worth $100 million “easily” within five to seven years through this technology. The company was formed to commercialise it.

“This is a biotech company commercialising a platform technology with the potential to impact both the local and national economies.

“Our goal is to retain the business in New Zealand as we deliver our high value, high margin products to a global marketplace,” Mr Thompson said.

Other Universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of British Columbia and Munster University in Germany are also developing such biotechnology.