No Trial Runs For Wellington Biotech Company – They’re Ready To Take New Zealand’s Clinical Research To The World

New Zealand may be small, but Julie Jones, CEO and founder of clinical research organisation BioValeo, thinks it has the potential to be mighty on the world’s biotech stage.

“We have a well-established research community, combined with a patient pool that is underutilised for clinical trials. We’re also fast to set up and cost competitive, and we have built a solid reputation for delivering really high-quality data,” explains Jones.
 

“Patients in New Zealand tend to be healthier but have run out of treatment options sooner, as there aren’t as many lines of treatment here as there are in other countries – resulting in good participant retention rates on our trials.”
 

Jones believes it is important that New Zealand positions itself to attract large and small pharma and biotech organisations to these shores, while also supporting and enabling small homegrown biotech businesses to develop their products.
 

“One of our main aims is to help New Zealand companies get their biotech studies to the trial phase, and then guide them through that. Clinical trials are incredibly complicated. We’re here to take them from start to finish, or even just provide assistance for the areas they aren’t adequately set up for.”
 

In 2022, BioValeo received a Callaghan Innovation grant and financial investment through Bridgewest Ventures, which has provided a one-year runway for the organisation to establish itself.
 

Jones and her team have spent the last six to nine months designing and developing the operational side of the organisation before welcoming their first official clients over the line – which has proved to be a bit of a balancing act.
 

“It’s a chicken-and-egg situation. We need to have a variety of systems, documents and standard operating procedures in place in order to run a study. Alongside this, we need to engage in marketing activities to be sure that the work will come through.”
 

While New Zealand has a great deal going for it in terms of its biotech agility and capabilities, some areas are lagging. One of the biggest hurdles facing Jones is that the Australian research and development tax incentives appear more achievable than New Zealand’s. She hopes that changes may be implemented, but in the meantime, one of her responsibilities is to help international sponsors see the value and potential in New Zealand.
 

“We can often open and run studies faster in New Zealand, which can result in New Zealand being more cost-effective than other countries.”

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