Revna Biosciences, an Accra-based biotechnology startup, has joined the cohort of startups that have secured grant funding from the develoPPP Ventures programme.
The grant will enable the company to accelerate its research and development efforts, further enhance its cutting-edge technologies, and expand its portfolio of groundbreaking solutions.
What problem is Revna Biosciences solving?
Led by Dr Derrick Edem Akpalu, Revna Biosciences aims to address the critical gap in access to advanced molecular diagnostics and precision medicine in Africa. Africa is known to be the most genetically diverse continent, and several populations from other continents have genetic roots in Africa. However, only about 3% of global genomic data used in studies come from individuals of African heritage. As a result, the lack of diverse genomic data limits understanding of genetic variations and their implications for diseases prevalent in African populations. This hinders the development of precision medicine tailored to the genetic makeup of African individuals, potentially leading to suboptimal diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies for diseases such as cancer, malaria, tuberculosis, and others. Ultimately, the disparity in genomic data undermines efforts to address health disparities and improve healthcare outcomes for people of African descent worldwide.
Revna Biosciences provides advanced molecular diagnostics tests locally, supports clinical trials, and offers biobanking. With a 10,000-square-foot facility, the company boasts seven Biosafety level 2 and two Biosafety level 3 labs. These include three molecular diagnostics labs, lab spaces for microbiology, virology, bacteriology, multiomics, and sequencing and biobanking areas.
The company collaborates with stakeholders across the health value chain. For instance, in 2023, the company received approval from Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority to deploy the NeuMoDx™ 96 molecular diagnostics platform supplied by the global biotech company QIAGEN.
develoPPP Ventures’ mission to spur innovation.
The develoPPP Ventures is a growth funding program by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) that aims to support young startups pursuing a high-impact business model with a grant of € 100,000 if the company can raise matching funds of at least the same amount from other sources. In addition to Revna Bioscience, in 2023, the investment vehicle has backed seven other Ghanaian innovative startups, including Built Financial Technologies, Grow For Me, HJA Africa, InstantRad, Kola Market, Legendary Foods Africa, and Nelplast Eco.
Source: Revna Biosciences
