Company Overview

Ayanda Biosystems S.A. ("Ayanda") is a technology development company that was founded in June 2001 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne ("EPFL").

The mission of Ayanda (a South African name signifying growth & prosperity) is to develop innovative tools and solutions that address urgent needs in healthcare and the life sciences industry, with a particular focus on medical diagnostics and drug discovery applications. Through our close contacts and collaboration with various R&D centres of excellence in Switzerland and the rest of Europe, Ayanda identifies promising cutting-edge technologies and intellectual property that satisfy an identified market need. We then bring together the necessary expertise and resources on a project-by-project basis to develop products of significant commercial potential, which we then bring to the market primarily through strategic alliances with established players in the respective markets of those products.

Our vision is to become one of the leading innovation companies that transform and translate cutting-edge science & technology research into products of high commercial and societal impact. As much as possible, we strive to develop products that are globally accessible and affordable also to the developing world.

Management Team

The management team consists of a complementary mix of scientists, engineers and managers that combine bio-engineering innovation expertise and management experience, and who share a common vision and a commitment to excellence, market leadership and entrepreneurship with a social responsibility:


• Dr. Solomzi Makohliso, Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
  He holds a Ph.D. in Biomaterials from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL).
• Bill Muirhead, Co-founder, Chief Financial Officer, Chairman of the Board.
  Chartered Accountant (England & Wales) and Electrical & Electronic Engineering Degree (Univ. of Bristol). Previously CFO of Groupe Audemars Piguet and CEO of Valtronic Technologies.
• Dr. Marc Heuschkel, Co-founder, VP of Engineering and Operations, Board Member.
  He holds a Ph.D. in Micro-engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL).
• Georges Rochat, VP of Business Development, Board Member.
  He holds a master in Micro-engineering from University of Neuchatel. He has over 27 years experience of developing, manufacturing and selling medical devices, including 25 years as CEO of the Valtronic Group, a Swiss company he founded in 1982.
  
  

Product Pipeline

Ayanda's product portfolio targets some of the key segments in the market of life sciences, i.e. CNS drug discovery, small RNA tools and cancer biomarkers.

With respect to cancer biomarkers, we are developing a novel blood-based early detection test for gynaecological cancers, notably breast and ovarian cancers. In relation to drug discovery tools, Ayanda's current product in the market is the microelectrode array (MEA) biochips, where we have become one of the leaders in this niche market that is primarily academic and research institutions today. We are now developing MEA-based applications aimed at addressing the dismally low efficiency of preclinical CNS drug discovery. We are also currently bringing to the market a novel groundbreaking lab-on-chip platform for nucleic acid sample preparation (NucliPrep™), with a particular focus on small RNA in drug discovery and molecular diagnostics.