New Zealand produces millions of sheepskins every year.

For decades, most of them were treated as a low-value by-product of the meat industry.

At Tertiary Extracts Ōtautahi, researchers and engineers saw something different.

Inside those sheepskins were proteins and peptides with the potential to support women’s health across every stage of life. Instead of exporting waste, they set out to extract value from it.

“We extract all the biologically active components from New Zealand sheepskins,” says co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr Rob Kelly. “And we use them to address very specific nutritional challenges in women’s health.”

The result is Ovitage®, a patented collagen-rich ingredient platform now being developed for supplements, functional foods and wellness products around the world.

It’s a story that sits at the intersection of New Zealand’s strengths: primary industry, scientific research and advanced manufacturing.

And it’s happening in Christchurch.

From primary product to global ingredient

New Zealand has long been recognised for producing world-class agricultural products.

But historically, much of that value left the country in raw form.

Tertiary Extracts represents a new generation of companies working to change that equation. Using proprietary extraction technology developed over several years, the team isolates high-value bioactive compounds from whole ovine skins and converts them into ingredients designed for human health applications.

These compounds support areas such as connective tissue health, muscle maintenance and healthy ageing — areas where women’s health needs have historically been under-researched.

“Often nutritional science has focused on male physiology,” Dr Kelly explains. “But women’s biological needs change dramatically through life, particularly around menopause and ageing.”

Ovitage was developed with that gap in mind.

The goal is simple but ambitious: to create a globally recognised ingredient platform that turns New Zealand’s agricultural by-products into high-value health solutions.

Waste to value

The process does more than create nutritional ingredients.

It transforms a waste stream into an opportunity.

Instead of sending sheepskins offshore or to landfill, Tertiary Extracts converts them into high-value bioactive proteins destined for global markets. In doing so, the company extends the value chain of New Zealand’s primary industries while reducing environmental impact.

“Ovitage is built on the principle that sustainability and human health should reinforce each other,” the company explains.

It’s a powerful example of circular thinking in practice: turning something once considered waste into a foundation for innovation.

Between July 2024 and March 2025 alone, the company converted more than 553 tonnes of sheepskin waste into valuable protein ingredients, with expectations that this will grow to around 900 tonnes annually as production scales.

What was once discarded is now part of a new export story.

Turning science into industry

For Dr Kelly, the most rewarding part of the journey is seeing scientific research translate into real products and businesses.

“My career has always been about turning science into companies,” he says. “You take knowledge, develop products from it, and those products create jobs and export value for New Zealand.”

Developing those products takes patience. Years of experimentation, validation and refinement are required before a new ingredient platform can reach global markets.

Scientific credibility is essential.

“Everything we do is backed by strong science,” he says. “We spend a lot of time demonstrating that the materials we produce actually deliver the benefits we claim.”

That discipline is what allows a Christchurch biotech manufacturer to compete internationally in the rapidly growing global nutrition sector.

Curiosity becomes careers

Walk through the Tertiary Extracts facility, and you’ll find a diverse mix of chemists, engineers, nutritionists and students working together.

For Head of R&D Alisa Roddick-Lanzilotta, the appeal lies in the variety.

“Some days I’m in the lab. Some days I’m in the plant,” she says. “That combination is what makes the work exciting.”

Her career began with a fascination for science at school, encouraged by a teacher who recognised her curiosity.

“That teacher really fostered my interest in science,” she says. “And that shaped the direction of my career.”

Today she leads teams translating laboratory discoveries into scalable manufacturing processes.

The company also hosts students from local universities, giving them exposure to the realities of advanced manufacturing.

Sophie, a chemical and process engineering intern from the University of Canterbury, joined while studying.

“I’ve always liked solving puzzles and problems,” she says. “Manufacturing is about figuring out how to refine a process or design something new.”

Victoria, a nutritionist on the team, followed a different path — moving from food science into nutrition before joining the company’s product development work.

“Science is everywhere,” she says. “Even cooking is chemistry.”

Their different journeys highlight an important truth about manufacturing:

There isn’t just one way in.

Building New Zealand’s biotech future

Tertiary Extracts is part of a broader shift happening across New Zealand’s innovation landscape.

Instead of exporting raw commodities, companies are increasingly combining agriculture, science and advanced manufacturing to create differentiated products for global markets.

This approach builds new industries on top of traditional strengths.

“If New Zealand wants to grow exports, we can’t just produce more raw commodities,” Dr Kelly says. “We need to capture more value from what we already produce.”

That’s exactly what companies like Tertiary Extracts are doing.

And in the process, they’re creating highly skilled jobs in biotechnology, manufacturing, and research.

Looking ahead

Over the next five years, the company plans to expand Ovitage into new applications across women’s health and nutrition markets.

The ambition is clear: to establish a globally recognised ingredient platform originating from New Zealand science and manufacturing.

“Our goal is to see Ovitage used by health brands around the world,” the team explains.

From a Christchurch laboratory to global wellness markets, the journey is just beginning.

Make your move. Make your mark.

Your future might not look like you expect.

It might look like a lab bench, a fermentation tank, and a discovery that improves someone’s life.

And it might start in a Christchurch manufacturing facility.