NZ's AgResearch to sell vaccine start-up

New Zealand Crown Research Institute AgResearch is selling off its wholly owned subsidiary, sheep vaccine distributor AgVax, under its policy of divesting itself of its profitable start-ups.

AgVax markets and distributes vaccines against common infections of sheep, and reproductive vaccines, developed in partnership with AgResearch. They include vaccines against toxoplasmosis and Campylobacter infections in sheep, and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which causes lethal scouring in farmed deer. Infection, AgVax's Androvax is used to improve fertility in ewes.

AgResearch chairman, Rick Christie, said AgVax was now a highly profitable and successful company, but the time had come for AgResearch to step aside in favour of other players who were better placed to take and grow the business to its full potential.

Christie said AgResearch's primary role was developing new technologies, products and businesses for the pastoral sector, and that role ended once these reached a stage where they were proven to be safe and effective, and to meet a market need.

He said AgResearch had benefited tremendously from interactions between the two companies -- AgVax's market perspective fed back to AgResearch's R&D activities.

AgResearch has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to sell AgVax by tender, as a going concern -- including its staff. The sale is expected to be completed by June.