• Home Page

• About

  • Overview of Biopad
  • Organizational Structure
  • Board of Trustees
  • FAQ

• Portfolio

  • Focus Areas
    • Animal Health
    • Human Health
    • Industrial
    • SA Malaria Initiative
  • How to Apply
  • Investment

• Industry Development

  • Knowledge Management
  • Human Capacity Development
  • Marketing

• Events

  • Events Calender

• Publications

  • Annual Reports
  • Newsletters
  • Industry Publications
  • Academic Publications

• Contact

Mandate

The mandate for BioPAD is informed by the Department of Science and Technology. In simple terms, the mandate translates to "Grow the Bio-Economy". Exactly how BioPAD interprets this broad mandate is defined in terms of its vision and mission. Forming a significant part of this mandate is the expansion of biotechnology facilities per region in South Africa, as discussed in the objectives of BioPAD. Although the objectives have remained the same in the inception of BioPAD, there has been a natural shift from late-stage opportunities to establishing platforms that will, in turn, result in spin-off new opportunities based on novel technologies. BioPAD plans to work closely with and support entrepreneurs throughout the development and commercialisation process. As BioPAD moves into the new knowledge-based economy, it also strives to shift its value system to embrace the values that will build and sustain a high-performing organisation.

Operational Highlights

During the financial year under review, BioPAD's Portfolio Management Department successfully launched the Metagenomics Platform at the University of the Free State, the Drug Delivery Platform at Wits University and the Animal Vaccines Delivery Platform at the University of Pretoria. All these initiatives are monitored closely for delivery on milestones. The department also secured the launch of the GS-20 high throughput genome sequencer, acquired on behalf of Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd.

An initiative funded by the Department of Science and Technology enabled the identification and preliminary phasing of the national pre-clinical drug development platform. This exercise engaged national consultations from various entities involved in the drug development activities as well as international trips to Cuba to visit similar initiatives. The final stage involved further engaging with stakeholders, establishing a steering committee, determining the terms of reference for the steering committee as well as finalising the business plan.

A new investment was concluded in partnership with LIFElab. The venture entailed a R15 million investment into iThemba Pharmaceuticals (Pty) Ltd for the development of drugs for diseases endemic, for instance tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, in Africa. This investment also resulted in the appointment of Dr Rebanta Bandyopadhyay as CSO, who's achievements to date include, amongst others, managing the successful construction of facilities, due to be fully operational before the current 2008 calendar year.

Another endeavour that originated from the department was the Mbuyu Biotech (Pty) Ltd investment. Although this commitment was made in the past, this financial year saw the achievement of various critical milestones, ensuring the implementation of governance-related systems as well as the appointment of a CSO, Dr Robert Gordon.

A further venture entailed an investment in a consortium, comprising inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd, Wits University and the National Health Laboratory Services: Chris Hani Baragwanath Business Unit. This consortium is tasked with the development of a genotyping assay for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The genomes of clinical isolates of the M. tuberculosis MDR and XDR strains would be sequenced and compared, using the Roche high throughput genome sequencer that BioPAD acquired. This work would culminate in the identification of sequence differences in these strains for the development of rapid diagnostic kits for tuberculosis, based on unique South African isolates.

The 2007/2008 financial year also saw the additional investment of funds into Origin Wellness (Pty) Ltd to expand and further its business activities.

With regards to capacity development, the department was able to negotiate NRF funding into its Metagenomics and Metabolomics platforms successfully. Another successful relationship entered into with the NRF is the department's involvement in the NRF-managed DST internship programme. Through this programme, the department has engaged Ms Aisha Mahomed Ali as an intern for 12 months. The intern programme aims to, amongst others, equip and empower the intern to acquire experience in the biotechnology innovations funding system and to obtain project management skills. Ms Aisha Mahomed Ali's MSc background in flavours and fragrances has afforded her the opportunity to investigate the potential for the natural products identified and characterised in her MSc project to be investigated for economical industrial scale-up at the LIFElab Bioprocessing Platform. This partnership between LIFElab and BioPAD will demonstrate the possibility of regional innovation centres in a collaborative venture towards capacity development.

Investment opportunities

BioPAD has invested in a number of projects and entities. The department manages these investments. These investments are discussed in the table below.