A new laboratory officially opened on 21 May by Stellenbosch Universities LaunchLab, aims to provide the academic community with a platform to turn ideas into viable start-ups.
This is according to Brandon Paschal, Stellenbosch University (SU) LaunchLab manager.
“The LaunchLab is aimed at the university community: Researchers that want to start companies from their research,” said Paschal.
Academic laboratories are not set up for commercial production, said Paschal. Rather, it mainly functions as a place for discovery, which limits the ability to produce quality standard discoveries for commercial production, said Paschal.
Dr Anton Du Preez van Staden (left), CEO of Fluorobiotech, a South African company advancing local biotech to build Africa’s enzyme self-sufficiency and Brandon Paschal (right), LaunchLab manager. LaunchLab CERIBIO officially opened on 21 May and already has companies lined up to make use of the facility, said Brandon Paschal, SU LaunchLab manager. PHOTO: Casey-Lee Anthony
Supporting biotech growth
“CERI BIO reflects Stellenbosch University’s commitment to innovative research and sustainable solutions, positioning us as a key player in biotechnology and the circular economy,” said Prof Deresh Ramjugernath, Stellenbosch Universities Rector and Vice-Chancellor.
The Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, Biotechnology (CERI BIO) laboratory was established to provide biotech technologies with a commercial space where they can gain customers and have a certification that will enable them to sell production-grade products, said Paschal.
“What we envisioned here is that the labs or the startups have a little bit of their own private space, the idea is that they have a little small lab,” said Dr Anton du Preez van Staden, CEO of Fluorobiotech, a South African company advancing local biotech to build Africa’s enzyme self-sufficiency.
The new laboratory also provides a space for companies or researchers from similar fields to connect, and remove barriers for achieving their goals, said Van Staden.
The laboratory allows researchers and companies to manufacture products that can be commercialised, said Brandon Paschal, SU LaunchLab manager. PHOTO: Casey-Lee Anthony
Expanding production for global markets
Three companies are currently making use of the laboratory, said Paschal, these companies are Fluorobiotech, Biocode, and Phagoflux. The hope is that every company that utilizes the laboratory will leave more equipped with the necessary skills needed to commercialise their products, said Paschal.
“There’s at least five more in the pipeline in the next year, they need somewhere to make product and sell it,” said Paschal.
Most of the customers for biotech companies are international, and production costs from the new laboratory would be cheaper than in other countries, while still making a quality product, said Paschal.
Through the program they hope to create a local biotech economy capable of producing vaccines. While South Africa was one of the leaders in identifying new strains of Covid-19 they did not have the means to manufacture vaccines, said Van Staden.
To extend on this biotech economy, a Stellenbosch bridge development in Klapmuts will feature a laboratory three times bigger than the current laboratory on the university campus within the next four to five years, said Paschal.
A Stellenbosch bridge development in Klapmuts will have a laboratory three times the size of the current laboratory at Stellenbosch University, said Brandon Paschal, SU LaunchLab manager. PHOTO: Casey-Lee Anthony