Uniseed investee Hatchtech Pty Ltd was been awarded the Australian Venture Capital Association (AVCAL) Best Early Stage Deal at this year’s award ceremony in Melbourne.
In September 2015, Hatchtech signed a US$197 million deal with Indian pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to commercialise XeglyzeTM Lotion, a next generation head lice treatment, and filed a New Drug Application with the US Food & Drug Administration in the same month.
The award to Hatchtech makes it “three in a row” for a Uniseed investee, with Spinifex Pharmaceuticals acquisition by Novartis winning the award in 2015, and Fibrotech Therapeutic’s deal with Shire winning the award in 2014.
Uniseed was the sole participant in Hatchtech’s first investment round and invested in every major funding round since. From 2005 to 2009, Uniseed assisted Hatchtech in securing additional investment from other venture capital firms including GBS Ventures, QIC Bioventures and Biocomm, with the University Melbourne also investing from their endowment fund. Subsequent investors in Hatchtech’s development included OneVentures in 2010, and Blue Sky Venture Capital in 2013.
Hatchtech’s technology was developed by Professor Vern Bowles at the Centre for Animal Biotechnology, University of Melbourne.
Dr Peter Devine, CEO of Uniseed commented: “Having supported Hatchtech since its inception, Uniseed is very pleased to see its investee companies continue to recognized in this way and demonstrates the quality of research innovation from its research partners. Uniseed raised its third fund of $50 million in late 2015, expanding its partnership to include the University of Sydney and CSIRO, in addition to existing partners the Universities of Melbourne, New South Wales and Queensland.”
Dr Devine went on to say: “This is the fourth ‘Best Early Stage Deal’ award for a Uniseed investee company – the first being Vintela Inc. in 2005 – a spin-out of the Distributed Systems Technology Centre CRC in Brisbane that developed a sign-on security software for enterprise systems – Fibrotech Therapeutics Pty Ltd in 2014 – a spin out from the University of Melbourne that is developing novel drugs for kidney fibrosis. Fibrotech was acquired by Specialty Pharmaceutical Company Shire plc in a deal worth up to US$557 million – and Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Inc in 2015 – a spin out from the University of Queensland that is developing new drugs from severe pain. Spinifex was acquired by global pharma Company Novartis International in deal worth up to US$700 million.”
About Hatchtech
Hatchtech Pty Ltd is an Australian specialty pharmaceutical product company developing technology for the control of invertebrate pests. The Company’s lead product is Xeglyze™, a class-leading head lice control agent that aims to overcome the frustrating, costly and inconvenient cycles of re-treatment experienced currently by children and their parents. The Company’s investors include, GBS Venture Partners, Queensland Biotechnology Fund, Uniseed, University of Melbourne Endowment Trust, Blue Sky Alternative Investments, Australian Super, and OneVentures Innovation Fund. The OneVentures Innovation Fund is supported by the Australian Government through the IIF program.
About Uniseed
Uniseed is a venture fund operating at the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland, New South Wales and Sydney, as well as the CSIRO. Uniseed’s mandate is to facilitate the commercialisation of research partner generated intellectual property by targeted investment in highly promising technologies. Uniseed’s investments cover a range of technology sectors. To date, the fund has exited four investments through trade sales; a drug to treat nerve pain (Spinifex Pharmaceuticals acquisition by Novartis for US$200M up- front plus milestone payments); a drug in development to treat fibrosis (Fibrotech Therapeutics sale to Shire plc for US$75M up-front plus milestone payments), an IT security technology (Vintela sale to Quest Software Inc. for US$75M) and a semi-conductor technology (Fultec sale to Bourns Semiconductor Inc) and one investment (Hatchtech) through an asset sale to Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in a deal worth $200M. A number of companies in Uniseed’s investment portfolio have products on the market (including Perkii, BT Imaging and Smart Sparrow), while other companies are collaborating with leading global companies in their respective fields (Nexgen Plants, Q-Sera, TenasiTech). For more information, go to www.uniseed.com.
About Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. is an integrated pharmaceutical company, committed to accelerating access to affordable and innovative medicines, because it believes Good Health Can’t Wait. Through its three businesses – Pharmaceutical Services & Active Ingredients, Global Generics and Proprietary Products – the company offers a portfolio of products and services that include active pharmaceutical ingredients, (APIs), custom pharmaceutical services, generics, biosimilars and differentiated formulations. With operations in 26 countries across the globe, the major therapeutic areas of Dr. Reddy’s are gastro-intestinal, cardiovascular, diabetology, oncology, pain management and anti-infectives. For more information, go to: www.drreddys.com
For more information:
Uniseed Peter Devine
0409 631 581
p.devine@uniseed.com