A recent feature in New Zealand newspaper The Post contains an unexpected Saab car connection.
Cynthia Hunefeld, founder and CEO of Evithé Biotechnology in Lower Hutt, has spent years combining traditional botanical knowledge with modern pharmaceutical research. Her company is developing standardized plant extracts, with ginger playing an important role in its research program.
Hunefeld describes the process as “turbocharging” ginger, increasing or altering concentrations of naturally occurring compounds rather than simply isolating a single active molecule. Evithé’s development program has progressed through preclinical research and into clinical testing. The company provides a broader outline of that work in its research and development timeline.
The scientific claims need some context. The Post reports that one preparation showed activity up to 105 times stronger than conventional ginger capsules in preclinical testing, but that does not mean it has been demonstrated to be 105 times more effective as a treatment in people. Hunefeld herself stresses that distinction.
Her work has also produced intellectual property around methods involving ginger and zingerone. Public patent records identify Cynthia Hunefeld Gaikema as inventor and Evithé Ltd as assignee on a patent family covering methods for preparing zingerone and related compositions. The patent documentation can be viewed here. New Zealand’s Intellectual Property Office has also profiled Evithé and Hunefeld’s work.
The Saab connection appears almost incidentally in The Post, but it is the part that caught our attention. Hunefeld sold her beloved Saab to help pay the cost of securing the patent.
“I still miss that car.”
The article does not identify the model. An EY profile of Hunefeld independently confirms that she sold her car to finance her first patent, although only The Post reveals that the car was a Saab.
That detail also puts the scale of early biotechnology development into perspective. Patents, laboratory work, manufacturing development and clinical research require considerable funding before a product has any commercial certainty. In Hunefeld’s case, one of the personal assets converted into research capital happened to be a Saab.
Her next major industry appearance will be at CPHI Milan 2026, held from October 6 through 8, where more than 62,000 pharmaceutical professionals are expected. For SaabPlanet, the biotechnology is clearly outside our normal subject area. The reason to record the story is simpler: somewhere in New Zealand, a Saab was sold not to finance another car, but to help turn years of scientific research into protected intellectual property.
It is another small example of how individual Saabs sometimes become part of much larger personal stories, much like the Saab 96 that returned to its original owner after 56 years, although in Hunefeld’s case the story begins with letting the car go rather than getting it back.
