Western Cape Business 2022

SPECIAL FEATURE
They came up with an attachment fitted
over the standard inhaler and they called it The
Easy Squeezy. Since then, the company that the
pair of biomedical engineering and mechanical
engineering graduates created, Impulse
Biomedical, has come up with something the
world badly needs, a reusable auto-injector that
accepts epinephrine cartridge refills and lasts for
five years. They want the long-lasting injector to
retail for about R1 000 as opposed to something
like seven times as much for a twin-pack of
injectors that have a short shelf life.
The pair have won several competitions for
startups and placed a very creditable second at
the Emerging Medical Innovation Competition
at the Design of Medical Devices Conference.
This earned them a full technical and market
evaluation by the Medical Industry Leadership
Institute (MILI), a giant step towards being able
to get into the US market where the tough
approval standards of the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) need to be met.
The company is one of several nurtured by UCT’s
Medical Devices Lab and Nair and Beukes have had
support from Research Contracts and Innovation
(RC&I), the university’s office that authorises and
negotiates research contracts with funders.
Stellenbosch University also promotes the
transition of its graduates into the biomedical
world. An example is AzarGen Biotechnologies.
The company’s website lists two lead therapeutic
candidates: a biosimilar version of an anti-cancer
monoclonal antibody and a recombinant human
surfactant protein targeted for various respiratory
disease conditions. AzarGen has also developed
proprietary synthetic DNA promoters for various
expression platform applications in plant-made
pharmaceuticals, synthetic biology and GMOcrop
improvement.
A number of initiatives are supporting this
growing sector. The South African Medical Research
Council (SAMRC) and PATH, a global non-profit
organisation, have teamed up to create the Global
Health Innovation Accelerator (GHIA). Based in Cape
Town, GHIA aims to support the development of
high-impact health innovations such as finding a
way to test for anaemia without drawing blood.
PATH is supported by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. Thinta Diagnostics, which
focusses on non-invasive medical diagnostics, is a
company that received seed funding from PATH.
The Western Cape Medical Devices Cluster
is a grouping recognised and funded by the
Department of Trade, Industry and Competition’s
Cluster Development Programme (CDP).
According to Wesgro, 93% of medical device
products are currently imported.
The cluster was founded in 2016 with the
assistance of several bodies: Wesgro, the Western
Cape Department of Economic Development
and Tourism, the National Department of
Science and Innovation and Kaiser Economic
Development Partners. The cluster is the first of
its kind in the province.
Several companies are engaging in cuttingedge
work. Research on radiation treatment of
cancer using Gold Nano particles is happening at
iThemba LABS, a National Research Foundation
facility. In 2017, iThemba LABS celebrated three
decades of operating the Separated Sector
Cyclotron (SSC). The SSC produces acceleratorbased
radiopharmaceuticals and enables the
study of the internal structure of atomic nuclei.
Real World Diagnostics makes rapid In Vitro
Diagnostics (IVD) test kits for drugs, pregnancy,
malaria and HIV in Brackenfell. The Real World
Development Service does research and
development and feasibility studies.
A cheap plastic heart valve was developed
by the Christiaan Barnard Cardiothoracic Surgery
Department of UCT and the company making
the valves is Strait Access Technologies, with
headquarters in Observatory. The valve is inserted
through a small incision and travels into position
propelled by a balloon. It will assist millions of
people with rheumatic heart disease. ■
The ZiBiPen. Credit: Impulse Biomed
19 WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2022