The Government has announced that it will invest more funding in natural pharmaceuticals and bio-based products, aiming to boost exports for what it describes as a “fast-growing” sector. <\/p>\n
Science, Innovation, and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti announced that the Government would be investing over $42.8 million over seven years to establish a “Biodiscovery Platform”. <\/p>\n
The platform would be designed to “accelerate the development of high-growth industries producing natural pharmaceuticals and other bio-based products”.<\/p>\n
The newly formed Bioeconomy Science Institute would lead it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an economic growth initiative,\u201d Reti said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBy harnessing New Zealand\u2019s rich biodiversity, we can develop world-class, export-ready products in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, functional foods, and advanced materials, creating jobs, growing businesses, and increasing our global market share.\u201d<\/p>\n
The market for bio-based products was expected to exceed US$300 million by 2027, according to the Government. It said natural pharmaceuticals were among the fastest-growing segments.<\/p>\n
“This initiative enables New Zealand to capture a share of that growth by commercialising products rooted in our unique flora and fauna.”<\/p>\n
Reti expected the platform to open up “significant” export opportunities for New Zealand businesses. <\/p>\n
“With targeted R&D, we\u2019ll help companies bring new, science-backed products to international markets, supporting regional development and building a stronger, innovation-led economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to the success of the honey sector as a model. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2014, honey exports earned $187 million. By June 2025, that number had more than doubled to $420 million \u2013 thanks largely to innovation in m\u0101nuka honey. That\u2019s the kind of economic uplift we want to replicate across multiple natural product sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new platform was part of a wider push to grow New Zealand’s science and tech economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government has announced that it will invest more funding in natural pharmaceuticals and bio-based products, aiming to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[138,219,134,111,43,139,69,135,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-58716","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}