December 24, 2003

Comvita Takes Remaining 50% Of Medical Honey Company Api-Med

AX-listed natural health products company Comvita announced today it has bought all the remaining shares in Cambridge-based Api-Med Medical Honey Limited.

One of Api-Med’s UK customers recently received the European CE mark certification for its wound dressing products that will allow manuka honey dressings to be marketed directly to hospitals and clinics.
 
Comvita Chairman Bill Bracks in announcing full acquisition of Api-Med Honey Limited says the original 50% shareholding purchased in September was largely undertaken to secure the intellectual property for manufacturing wound dressings that are infused with high UMF manuka honey.

“The purchase of the remaining 50% of the company is a practical move that allows Comvita to add value to the company through entering new ethical medical markets where New Zealand’s indigenous manuka honey has been embraced as a leading edge method of treating wounds and serious ulcers.  It is a major step for the company by taking a position at the medical end of the health continuum.

Comvita’s chief executive Graeme Boyd says the use of honey products in medical situations opens exciting new market potential for Comvita and New Zealand plus opening new economic opportunities for beekeepers and landowners. 

Boyd says uses such as wound dressings add value to a natural resource and offer huge growth potential in international markets.

Api-Med is involved in clinical trials with the Auckland University’s Clinical Trials Unit beginning in January. 

Graeme Boyd says there is a large body of research now available on the antibacterial activity of manuka honey and of its rapid healing characteristics, spearheaded by Dr Peter Molan of Waikato University. 

He says the clinical trials will provide the final level of certainty needed to take the products in to the medical field.

“We have long recognised there is solid revenue potential in the medical area for natural products companies that have strong research capabilities.  We have been steadily working toward that goal of entering that market.”

The Api-Med purchase is in line with the strategic focus of Comvita to be a leading player in wellness products through a genuine and resourced innovation programme.  The purchase and clinical trials are part of a planned process of growth for the company.

End

August 15, 2003

Bali Bomb Blast Victims Among Those To Benefit From NZ Wound Care Product

Victims of last October’s terrorist bombings in Bali are among a number of Balinese benefiting from a New Zealand honey-based wound care product used to treat burns and skin infections.

Appropriately known as WoundCare, samples of the product were recently donated to the Bali Community Health Trust by complementary health products market leader Comvita New Zealand.

The Bali Community Health Trust reports its voluntary workers in Bali are achieving excellent results in the treatment of burns and skin infections using WoundCare. The WoundCare samples were taken to Bali by new Trust volunteer Sue Cowie, from Auckland. Cowie gave them to a local healthcare provider who is providing ongoing treatment for bomb blast patients.

Trust project manager Annette Culpan, speaking from Bali this week, described WoundCare as a fantastic product for healing wounds in Bali’s tropical conditions.

“The WoundCare has been absolutely brilliant,” according to Culpan. “We have seen some wonderful results using it to treat the burns and wounds of a diverse range of (Balinese) patients including bomb blast victims.

“One patient, simply known as Isaak, had his hand severely burnt in the bombings. Since WoundCare was applied, he has made tremendous progress and has increased mobility in his hand.

“I also witnessed the treatment of serious wounds suffered by a young disabled man injured in a hit and run accident involving a Western tourist. His wounds were almost completely healed within three days of treatment using WoundCare.”

Culpan, who is serving one year in Bali as the recipient of part of the Vodafone New Zealand Foundation World of Difference Programme, says since arriving in Bali early in May she has been shocked at how different the island paradise of Bali is since the bombings.

“The trickle down effect is particularly apparent in the remote villages where loss of income via tourism has further exacerbated these already impoverished areas. Primary healthcare has been hit hardest of all and the feeling in rural Bali is desperate.

“In one village, five out of seven hotels have closed down and the situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. This loss of income has impacted most significantly on primary health, providing strong confirmation that the Trust’s work here in Bali is now more critical than ever.”

After the bombings, the Bali Community Health Trust sent three volunteers to Bali to assist in the care of local bombing victims. They took with them 150 boxes of donated product and worked with bomb blast patients for almost two months.

Encouraged by the positive feedback, the Trust is sending more donated WoundCare samples to Bali. The samples are going with Trust founders Julia West and Sue Cotton who are returning to continue their work in the rural villages and revisit the patients they treated after last October’s bombings.

Annette Culpan says the critical situation in Bali makes the support of companies like Comvita all the more important. She adds the Trust’s work simply would not happen without this type of support.

Comvita’s resident natural health consultant, Dr Caroline Davy, says the positive reports about the effectiveness of WoundCare come as no surprise.

“New Zealand’s manuka honey, which is the basis of our WoundCare 18+ product, is gaining increasing acceptance among health professionals, here and overseas, as an effective alternative to conventional medical treatment of wounds,” says Dr Davy.

“I know of several major UK hospitals which now routinely use manuka honey for wound dressings, and here (in New Zealand) it’s widely used in aged care hospitals. Manuka Honey contains UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) which is a special antibacterial acitivity not found in other honeys.”

Dr Davy claims one of manuka honey’s most important roles in wound care may prove to be of help in the treatment of wounds infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. She points to laboratory testing which shows its success in combating certain bacterial infection.

Comvita’s national sales manager Dave Burnett, who with chairman Bill Bracks spearheaded the company’s Bali initiative, says further WoundCare donations to the Bali Community Health trust are likely.

“We are delighted our donation has been so well received by the Trust and it’s nice to see people less fortunate than ourselves benefiting from a natural product from this part of the world,” says Burnett.

For more information on the Trust’s work in Bali see www.balihealthtrust.com or mail correspondence and donations to PO Box 49, Beachlands, Auckland.

END

News Release
September 3, 2003

Comvita Announces Shareholding In Medical Honey Company

Comvita New Zealand announced today it has purchased a 50 per cent shareholding in Cambridge based Api-Med Medical Honey Limited, a company whose medical grade honey products are being trialed in hospitals and clinics in the UK.

Api-Med is a joint venture between WaikatoLink, the commercial arm of the University of Waikato, and the manuka honey marketing company Bee and Herbal New Zealand Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, Bee and Herbal's health food business will merge with Comvita which will acquire all of the former's assets including its internationally recognised health food brand, 'Medi-Bee'.

The technological advance of honey as a practical and effective medical device is a key business strategy of Api-Med. This device is a manuka honey-based wound dressing incorporating advanced alginate technology in which the healing product is manufactured into a firm, user-friendly gel. New Zealand manuka honey with the UMF (unique manuka factor) rating is gaining worldwide recognition for its effectiveness in treating wounds.

Api-Med, in conjunction with its UK manufacturing partner Brightwake, recently achieved the CE mark, widely recognised as the medical device milestone and the UK registration which allows manuka honey dressings to be marketed directly to hospitals and clinics.

To support this, Api-Med has developed its Medical Honey Accredited Supplier Programme to ensure that only the highest quality honey is put forward to support what it describes as a unique, global market opportunity for manuka honey as a bone-fide medicine. Api-Med's plans include worldwide distribution into key medical markets.

Bee and Herbal's owner-operators Phil and Sharan Caskey say UMF manuka honey is becoming one of the most exciting natural products on the market for wound treatment.

They claim that not only has Api-Med been instrumental in developing the commercial pathway for honey as a medical device technology, but Bee and Herbal has successfully developed an auditable quality supplier system that involves landowners and beekeepers in the supply of high quality medical grade honey to the marketplace.

Comvita CEO Graeme Boyd says the opportunity to purchase a shareholding in such an innovative and aligned business as Api-Med is one his board and management team recognised as significant for the further development of unique products of New Zealand origin.

"The potential for these products in the medical honey field is huge," says Boyd. "They demonstrate the ability of natural products companies with strong research and development programmes to compete in the medical field.

"Comvita will add organisational and management strength to the company as well as providing access to growth capital through its planned listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange's new AX market in November.

"Bee and Herbal's business is strategic to Comvita. Their 'Medi-Bee' brand of manuka honey already has a very strong position in the UK health market and in Australia."

Gary Betteridge, CEO of WaikatoLink, says the Api-Med development is a significant commercialisation of the university's intellectual property in the use of honey in wound care.

"Our partnership with Bee and Herbal has seen the project develop from a concept to the stage where it is now very close to full commercialisation on a global scale," says Betteridge. "We now feel it is appropriate to let private companies get on with the production, marketing and sales of the technology."

Betteridge says one of the most pleasing aspects is that Comvita's involvement ensures the ownership of the technology remains firmly in New Zealand hands.

END

For more information, please contact:

Alan Bougen phone +64 021 386 972 or email alan.bougen@comvita.com

Phil Caskey phone +64 027 442 2451 or email philc@apimed.co.nz