The Ferrier Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand is named after the late Professor Robin Ferrier who pioneered carbohydrate chemistry in New Zealand. In its 26-year history, the Ferrier has established a world-class reputation in carbohydrate chemistry and analysis and has recently extended its expertise into the areas of synthetic and chemical biology, chemical immunology and natural product isolation.

The Ferrier has a long list of national and international collaborators and commercial clients, and a rapidly growing post-graduate contingent. It has one drug (Mundesine®) in market and several in pre-clinical development. Ferrier provides drug candidates for evaluation by MRCF, through its joint venture with GlycoSyn. Ferrier has also been a key chemistry contractor for MRCF’s stable of biotech companies including success stories such as Spinifex where Glycosyn provided medicinal chemistry, process development for scale-up and initial GMP manufacture.