MSC NewsWire

Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Monday, 01 March 2021 11:43
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Pricing
    • Global Presswire
    • Industry Organisations
  • News Sectors
    • Headlines Through Today
    • Environmental Talk
    • Out of The Beehive
    • Primary Sector Talk
    • Reporters Desk
    • The MSC NewsReel
    • MSCNetwork
    • FinTech Talk
    • The FactoryFloor Newsreel
    • Trade Talk
    • News Talk
    • Industry Talk
    • Technology Talk
    • Blockchain
    • Highlighted
    • The TravelDesk
      • TravelMedia
      • Sporting Tours
      • Holidays Tours Events + More
      • Airfares
      • Travel Enquiry Form
      • TravelBits
    • Travel Updates
    • The MSC TravelDesk Newsreel
    • Travel Talk
    • Travel Time
    • The Bottom Line
    • Regional News
    • News to Run Advice Form
    • World News
    • NewsDIRECT
    • MSCVoxPops
    • Press Releases
  • National Press Club
  • Contact Us

BioNona gains FDA approval for Atopis eczema cream, plans to start online US sales

  • font size decrease font size decrease font size increase font size increase font size
  • Print
  • Email

Nov 30, 2017  -  (BusinessDesk) - BioNona, which markets skin treatment creams developed by biochemist and chief executive Iona Weir, says it has gained US Food and Drug Administration approval for its Atopis eczema cream treatment, giving it access to a market worth as much as US$6 billion.

It marks the first such FDA approval for a New Zealand-developed over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical skincare cream and is a culmination of more than 30 years of research and pharmaceutical development by Auckland scientist Weir, whose other projects have included the kiwifruit-based Phloe laxative product produced by Vital Foods Processors, where Weir was chief scientific officer until 2014.

Weir said the US market for OTC eczema creams amounts to about US$2 billion, or one-third of the total market. BioNona plans to sell online via Amazon on its eczema treatments page which only allows FDA-approved products. She said in the US about 50 percent of OTC sales now occur online through approved USFDA outlets such as Amazon.

"I suspect it will be our biggest product, though consumers use the eczema cream and then buy the other products," she said. "So it is more of a lead product that draws consumers in."

The Atopis eczema cream is already for sale but to date has been marketed as Dry Itchy Skin Relief Cream. The FDA approval means they can be re-branded as an eczema treatment. BioNona plans to seek FDA approval for its acne-prone skin care next, Weir said.

According to BioNona's website, Atopis contains myriphytase, a patented novel compound "developed for use in the treatment of eczema, psoriasis and acne." Myriphytaseis is created through a patented process called Peptilization, which "fuses together plant, bacterial and insect components."

The work grew out of Weir's Ph.D. in 1997 on programmed cell death in plants known as apoptosis. Her research showed apoptosis in plants was reversible, unlike in animals, and she was able to extract "critical reactions" in plants that could be put in a cream as a topical application for skin conditions in humans, such as eczema and acne. The extract encourages the body's immune response to attack affected areas and repair damaged cells, she told the International Conference on Clinical and Experimental Dermatology in Chicago last year.

The acne cream also contains the myriphytase extract "but it has gone through a different enzymatic fermentation reaction so that it has the bioactive properties required to treat acne," she said today.

Weir has a holding of about 33 percent in Decima Health, which owns the patents and did the research. Decima, in turn, owns 75 percent of BioNona, which was set up to handle manufacturing and distribution.

The company's chair is Paul Dallimore, who also owns about a third of Decima and was the original angel investor in the business, having been given a sample of the cream by Weir which he tried on a grandchild. Dallimore was the founder of National Property Trust and is chair of the Highgate Group.

Weir said the company hopes to have the eczema cream on sale to US consumers from the start of February next year.

Weir won an international award for her original Ph.D. and was able to continue her research with a grant from the Marsden Fund. A grant from Callaghan Innovation helped fund the double blind placebo controlled clinical trial completed by Southern Clinical Trials Group at the end of 2015.

(BusinessDesk receives funding to help cover the commercialisation of innovation from Callaghan Innovation.)

| A BusinessDesk release  ||  November 29,  2017   |||

 

 

Published in MEDICAL
Tagged under
  • medical
  • Manufacturing
  • news talk

Related items

  • Sir Bill English to be honoured by Victoria University of Wellington
  • Higher bank capital better for banking system and NZ
  • Plastics industry helps designers create easy-to-recycle packaging
  • Great Barrier unhappy with Auckland’s marine sludge plan
  • XE Update Friday 30 November, 2018
More in this category: « New blood processing investment for Alliance Group Significant tech changes for mobile bus service next year »
back to top

MSC NewsWire is a gathering place for information on the productive sector in New Zealand focusing on Manufacturing, Productive Engineering and Process Manufacturing

  • Home
  • Global Presswire
  • Industry Organisations
  • National Press Club
  • Disclaimer
  • About Us
  • Pricing
  • Sitemap
Copyright © 2021 MSC NewsWire. All Rights Reserved.
Site Built & Hosted by iSystems Limited
Top
News Talk