Afric a s Ge nomics C o m p a ny company profile
our history Inqaba is Xhosa for rare and precious" and this pays homage to our South African origin Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd, trading as inqaba biotec in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a unique South African Genomics company that was established in 2002 from an idea that was conceptualized in 2000. Inqaba is Xhosa for rare and precious and this pays homage to our South African origin. The company premises are based in Muckleneuk, one of the oldest suburbs in Pretoria. In 2010 the Kenyan subsidiary, inqaba biotec East Africa Ltd, was opened in Nairobi and we have registered inqaba biotec West Africa Ltd in Nigeria in 2014. The initial startup was organized by a venture team of five, of whom three are still engaged with the company: Dr de Gama, Prof. Göttfert and Dr Preisig. In 2002, inqaba biotec was financed through private equity from 30 private shareholders and through a loan from the Swiss Government, which was fully repaid within five years of its inception. In 2005, the South African Biotechnology trust, BioPAD, took up shareholding in the company. In 2007, inqaba biotec started offering genome sequencing using a sequencing technology from 454, which at time was a novel innovation and made us pioneers in offering this service in Africa. Currently, inqaba biotec employs over thirty people in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana with plans of creating a network across Sub-Saharan Africa. This will facilitate our ultimate aim of getting better support and logistics to our customers in the field of Genomics as part of our contribution to further develop Science and Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2 company profile
our mission Developments over the past three decades have provided basic and applied life scientists with new techniques to analyse and make use of genetic information. This opened the field for new approaches in drug development, molecular diagnostics, plant and animal breeding, forensics and other research fields. In order to increase efficiency of genetic research and diagnostics, there is a remarkable trend in life sciences to outsource standardized or repetitive work. As DNA analysis and DNA synthesis services benefit from automation, miniaturization, and high throughput, they become a matter of highly specialized service laboratories all over the world. We as the inqaba biotec team have committed ourselves to provide various genomic services to our customers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We are based in South Africa with subsidiaries in Kenya and Nigeria, and our in-house products include DNA synthesis and a broad range of DNA analysis services. We pride ourselves in their high quality, our prompt delivery and our competitive pricing. We are also distributors of leading international manufacturers of reagents for life sciences, molecular diagnostics as well as instruments and bioinformatics software. These partnerships are founded upon a shared philosophy of good science, high quality, and excellent service with an aim to be a one-stop Genomics shop. Africa s Genomics Company 3
products and services inqaba biotec is a provider of services and products in Life Sciences and Molecular Diagnostics such as: DNA synthesis of oligonucleotides and probes Sanger sequencing service using two ABI 3500XL sequencers Next generation sequencing using Roche /454 as well as illumina sequencing technologies SNP analysis service using the MassARRAY from Agena Biosciences Bioinformatics support Animal genetics services Training in molecular techniques and DNA analysis Providing the support needed for setting up molecular biology laboratories We represent strong brands from international Life Science companies like the molecular biology portfolio of New England BioLabs, the nucleic acid purification systems from Zymo Research, the bioinformatics software form CLC bio, the molecular diagnostics solutions from Seegene and others, which makes us a one stop shop for all life science needs. We have the capacity to produce 10,000 oligonucleotides, 10,000 Sanger sequence reads and 120 Gigabases of Next Generation data per month. Our customers include researchers or applied scientists at universities, national agricultural and medical research institutes, international research institutes and public or commercial diagnostic laboratories of the medical, veterinary or food industry. Our aim is to be as efficient, cost effective, transparent and as precise as possible, which in turn helps our technological development. 4 company profile
CORE SERVICES OLIGO SYNTHESIS (PRIMERS & PROBES) Since 2002, we have gained the technical expertise and grown our facility to produce over 1000 custom oligonucleotides per day in Pretoria. Our standard and modified oligonucleotides are quality controlled and normally dispatched within 24 hours or 96 hours, respectively. We always strive for a fast turn-around times so that our clients can enjoy the full benefit of locally produced oligonucleotides. SANGER DNA SEQUENCING Our Sanger DNA sequencing facility offers DNA sequencing from various templates using BigDye Terminator v3.1 Cycle Sequencing on two ABI3500XL sequencers. We strive to deliver a flexible service to serve most needs. The facility is able to offer primer design and production, template purification and amplification, cloning, data analysis and also including services like fungal and bacterial ID and much more. NEXT GENERATION DNA SEQUENCING We offer NGS project design input, a rigorous quality controlled library preparation and sequencing workflow, fast turn-around times and support in data analysis and interpretation, all performed in our facility in Pretoria. We prepare DNA or RNA samples for a start to finish NGS Service available on various platforms (Roche : FLX Junior, Illumina : MiSeq and Thermo Scientific : Ion Proton ). SNP GENOTYPING (SEQUENOM MASSARRAY) Our SNP genotyping service using Agena Bioscience s MassARRAY allows you to custom design your genotyping assay to fit your research needs. The ease of analysis is afforded by the accompanying software, making it detailed and basic enough to understand. A high plex capability, sensitivity and good turn-around time make the MassARRAY the genotyping technology of choice for the analysis of 10s to 100s of SNPs. A range of panels are offered upon request to address different spheres of research such as oncology, human identification, methylation and genes associated with drug metabolism. BIOINFORMATICS SOLUTIONS Our customized bioinformatics analysis services will allow you to make sense of your Next Generation Sequencing data sets. Small to large data sets, we will assist in helping you answer your scientific question. From analysis solutions to bioinformatics training, we cover it all. ANIMAL GENETICS Our Animal Genetics service includes a wide variety of genetics tests mainly for dogs and wildlife species. Tests offered include parentage verification, genetic disease screening and sub-species verification. The department is ever expanding the test portfolio and striving to improve on service delivery. Africa s Genomics Company 5
products and services - continued PRODUCTS INSTRUMENTS Thermal cyclers qpcr systems Gel electrophoresis equipment Gel imaging systems Vortexes Shakers Incubators Pipettes Vacuum concentrators NanoDrop spectrophotometers MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TOOLS DNA/RNA isolation kits Restriction enzymes Modifying enzymes Cloning solutions Epigenetics Electrophoresis sirna solutions Manual/Automated DNA/RNA isolation SOFTWARE Bioinformatics Phylogenetics Sequencing analysis Next-Generation sequencing Primer design Protein structure Protein modelling PCR, qpcr, RT-PCR Reagents Routine PCR Hot-Start PCR Fast PCR High-Fidelity PCR CELL CULTURE Primary cells lines Stem cells Media MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS Automatic pathogen detection Multiplex PCR & qpcr Prenatal diagnostics Genetic testing FOOD TESTING GMO Food pathogens Allergen testing - ELISA - qpcr BIOCHEMICALS Antibiotics Buffers Carbohydrates Chelating agents Biological compounds Reducing agents Phenols/Organics PLASTIC CONSUMABLES Plates (PCR & Storage) Individual tubes & strips Tube caps Adhesive seals Pipette tips Centrifuge tubes 6 company profile
our brands SNP genotyping Biochemicals Gel electrophoresis systems GMO, Food pathogens & Allergen qpcr test kits Stabilization service for biological samples Pipettes Non-UV transilluminators Bioinformatics software Genetic testing kits: prenatal/ reproductive/ oncology Biotechnology education Molecular cloning kits and competent cells Transfection reagents Vacuum concentrators Molecular biology reagents Growth factors and recombinant proteins Cell lines and cell cultures NanoDrop Spectrophotometers Plastic consumables Gel imaging systems Molecular diagnostic kits DNA and RNA isolation kits Africa s Genomics Company 7
CORE SERVICES Oligo Synthesis (Primers & Probes) Sanger DNA Sequencing Next Generation DNA Sequencing SNP Genotyping (Sequenom MassARRAY) Bioinformatics Solutions Animal Genetics NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING SERVICES Roche : FLX Junior, Illumina : MiSeq, Thermo Scientific : Ion Proton Sequencing of whole viral, mitochondrial, bacterial and small eukaryotic genomes Analysis of metagenomes (e.g. bacterial 16S rdna and fungal ITS ) Transcriptome sequencing (rrna reduction) Amplicons/BACs/Plasmid sequencing Targeted re-sequencing HIV drug resistance Exome sequencing Small RNA-seq RNA-seq Custom tailored solutions for diagnostics Bioinformatics support studio112.co.za S-1890 contact details SOUTHERN AFRICA Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd. PO Box 14356, Hatfield 0028 Pretoria, South Africa Tel: +27 12 343 5829 Fax: +27 86 677 8409 E-mail: info@inqababiotec.co.za www.inqababiotec.co.za EAST AFRICA inqaba biotec East Africa Ltd. PO Box 1846 Nairobi 00606, Kenya Tel: +254 735 370 693 Fax: +27 86 677 8409 E-mail: info@inqababiotec.co.ke www.inqababiotec.co.ke WEST AFRICA inqaba biotec West Africa Ltd. PMB 5320, Oyo Road, Ibadan 200001 Oyo State, Nigeria Tel: +234 705 208 8041 Fax: +27 86 677 8409 E-mail: info@inqababiotec.ng www.inqababiotec.ng