Cape bio pharms
Our core business is plant-molecular pharming of recombinant proteins.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
* | ZAR900m | Grant | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Cape Biologix Technologies, operating under the trade name Cape Bio Pharms, is a biotechnology firm established in 2011 with a focus on plant-based protein expression. The company was co-founded by Belinda Shaw and Mauritz Venter, who serve as CEO and CSO, respectively. Shaw brings a background in venture capital and commercialization to the enterprise, while Venter contributes his scientific expertise in molecular biology. This combination of commercial and scientific leadership has positioned the company to translate complex science into marketable products. The company originated as a spin-out from the University of Cape Town (UCT), leveraging research from the Biopharming Research Unit.
The core of Cape Bio Pharms' operation is its proprietary plant-based expression platform, which utilizes a transient expression system in *Nicotiana benthamiana*, a relative of the tobacco plant, to produce a wide array of proteins, antibodies, and reagents. This method serves as an alternative to traditional mammalian cell-based production systems, offering potential advantages in speed, scalability, and cost-efficiency, while also being free of animal-derived components. The production cycle, from gene synthesis to purified protein, can be completed in as little as six weeks.
The company's business model revolves around contract manufacturing and the sale of catalogued products to a diverse client base that includes research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and the diagnostics sector. They provide services such as antibody and protein production, custom project development, and assay development. Their product portfolio includes recombinant proteins, diagnostic reagents like viral antigens (including for SARS-CoV-2), and research enzymes. Revenue is generated through these service contracts and direct product sales. By operating in the rapidly expanding biologics and diagnostics markets, Cape Bio Pharms addresses the growing demand for reliable and efficiently produced recombinant proteins for research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.
Keywords: biotechnology, plant-made proteins, contract manufacturing, recombinant proteins, molecular farming, diagnostics reagents, antibody production, Nicotiana benthamiana, biopharming, life sciences