Working with industry
The Maurice Wilkins Centre supports innovation in the biotechnology and drug development sector by providing companies with the expertise and facilities that their research and development programmes require.
Comvita Ltd.
Comvita New Zealand is an international natural health products company with offices across Asia, the USA, and the UK.
Comvita is working with MWC investigators Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble and Professor Kerry Loomes to identify the active components and biomarkers present in Manuka honey.
Convert Pharmaceuticals
Convert Pharmaceuticals is an international preclinical and clinical-stage drug development company for cancer therapeutics.
MWC investigators Associate Professors Adam Patterson and Jeff Smaill contributed their expertise and have ongoing collaborations with Convert Pharmaceuticals through their hypoxia-activated pro-drugs Tarloxotinib and CP-506.
DDRx Pharmaceuticals
This life science pharmaceutical company was founded in 2022 by Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre investigators Associate Professor Michael Hay, Emeritus Professor Bill Wilson, Associate Professor Stephen Jamieson, and Dr Cho Hong.
Managed by COO Dr Lydia Liew, the company is developing inhibitors of DNA damage response pathways as potential radiosensitisers for use in cancer treatment.
Fy Cappa Biologics
Fy Cappa Biologics was incorporated in November 2024 in Basel, Switzerland, to develop antibody drugs with tuned effector functions driven by the antibody molecule's constant region.
The goal is to use AI-informed protein engineering to create antibodies that direct specific immune responses in autoimmune conditions. The academic founders are Prof George Georgiou from the University of Texas, Prof Sai Reddy ETH Zurich, and Dr William Kelton at the University of Waikato.
NZ Clinical Research Ltd.
This company provides Phase 1 and 2 clinical research to local and international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
In 2024, Maurice Wilkins Centre investigator Professor Rod Dunbar and his team continued collaborating with NZ Clinical Research, providing analytical services such as immune monitoring to support ongoing clinical trials sponsored by international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Optimal Clinical Trials Ltd
The Auckland-based company specialises in conducting phase 1b to 3 clinical trials across a wide range of therapeutic areas.
In 2024, MWC investigator Professor Rod Dunbar’s team continued providing laboratory services to Optimal to support a clinical trial sponsored by a major international pharmaceutical company.