Before the global Covid-19 pandemic charted a new path for biotech companies, the sector was already developing solutions that address various challenges currently facing humanity.
In recent years, global biotech firms have helped to prevent and cure disease, treat polluting waste, produce food and renewable energy safely and more efficiently, and reduce our ecological footprint to address the environmental and agricultural damage caused by climate change.
From a local perspective, South Africa’s growing biotech sector can contribute to global innovation with the right investment and focus while also benefiting the local economy.
“Biotech has been a nascent sector in the country for some time but pockets of innovation have emerged in recent years,” explains Dheepak Maharajh, Cluster Head at BioCiTi, a Cape Town-based biotech innovation incubator and accelerator.
BioCiTi sees enormous potential in biotech as a technology that can benefit the environment and make a positive impact on people’s lives. As such, the organisation aims to support entrepreneurs and catalyse scientific innovations from ideation to commercialisation.
