<article>Australian life science venture capital firm, Brandon Capital Partners Monday said that it will expand operations into New Zealand.</article>

Australian life science venture capital firm, Brandon Capital Partners Monday said that it will expand operations into New Zealand.
Brandon Capital Partners manages the <a href="http://www.mrcf.com.au" target="_blank">Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF)</a>, an investment collaboration between major Australian superannuation funds and more than 50 of Australia&#8217;s leading medical research institutes and research hospitals.
In February 2016, New Zealand joined the fund which made their members eligible to seek investment support for their emerging technologies from the third MRCF fund which is valued at AU$200 million.
Dr. Chris Nave, Managing Director of Brandon Capital Partners and Principal Executive of the MRCF said, &#8220;Internationally, New Zealand ranks very highly in terms of its medical innovations and we are therefore excited to be expanding the MRCF to include New Zealand members. At $200 million, our latest fund has the capacity to support the best research opportunities from across New Zealand and Australasia, from discovery to clinical development and commercialisation.&#8221;
New Zealand&#8217;s medical and health sectors have raked in big bucks in recent years and the collaboration is expected to solidify New Zealand&#8217;s standing.
<a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1606/S00642/health-technology-contributes-13-billion-to-economy.htm" target="_blank">In 2015,</a> New Zealand&#8217;s health information technology (IT) and medical device companies turned over $1.3 billion for the New Zealand economy, with medical device companies contributing the lion&#8217;s share of $996 million.
&#8220;The expansion of MRCF’s membership network increases the opportunity for collaboration, capability sharing and knowledge aggregation.  With key international linkages, including our newly established US office in the San Francisco Bay Area, the MRCF is providing access to key resources which overcome some of the key factors impeding the successful commercialisation of research discoveries in Australia and New Zealand,&#8221; Nave continued.
The fund which was raised in April, <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150420005420/en/Brandon-Capital-Partners-Raises-AU200M-MRCF-Fund" target="_blank">promises AU$50 million</a> to &#8220;20-30 very early seed stage investments in promising biotech or medical device technologies.&#8221; The remaining amount will be allocated to existing MRCF portfolio companies as they undertake mid-stage clinical trials in patients.
The firm also revealed that Duncan Mackintosh, who was the previous Chief Executive of <a href="http://www.waikatolink.co.nz" target="_blank">WaikatoLink</a>, has been appointed as Investment Manager and will lead the New Zealand operations.
Mackintosh who was also co-founder and founding Investment Committee Member of <a href="https://www.kiwinet.org.nz" target="_blank">KiwiNet</a>, said one of his priorities is to ensure New Zealand&#8217;s research organisations sign up to gain access to the MRCF.
Early-stage opportunities can receive up to $3 million to support pre-clinical development and a further $17 million in investment support for those who successfully progress beyond initial stages.
Brandon Capital Partners have  consistently been expanding its operations internationally since the start of the year. Back in January, <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brandon-capital-partners-expands-into-us-opening-office-in-san-francisco-bay-area-300201434.html" target="_blank">the firm announced </a>its expansion into the United States with the opening of a San Francisco Bay Area office.
Since its inception in 2007, MRCF has supported the development of over 27 start-up companies with notable successes including Spinifex Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by <a href="https://www.novartis.com" target="_blank">Novartis</a> for $725 million in 2015 and Fibrotech Therapeutics which was acquired by <a href="https://www.shire.com" target="_blank">Shire</a> for $557 million in 2014.
The firm also has a penchant for preferring to invest in the life sciences, biotech, new drug discovery and medical devices sectors.
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Australian lifesciences VC Brandon Capital expands reach to New Zealand

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