Health and biotech company 54Gene has raised $500,000 for a fund aimed at improving Nigeria’s capacity to carry out tests for COVID-19. The money raised for the Nigeria COVID-19 Testing Support Fund will ramp up testing for the disease by up to 1,000 additional tests a day, the company said.

Here Is All You Need To Know

• The fund will be managed to assist Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in conducting more tests across the country. 
• 54Gene will work with the NCDC and other stakeholders to start purchasing the necessary equipment and materials within days.
• The purchased equipment will be installed in public hospitals and laboratories across Nigeria. When the pandemic passes, they will remain in those locations for use by medical researchers and clinicians in case of any future outbreaks, the company said.
• According to 54Gene CEO Abasi Ene-Obong, the initiative for the fund was an expression of his company’s “extremely ambitious mission” to expand Nigeria’s testing capacity. He expects that the effort will increase the present rate by no less than 10 times in the coming weeks.
• The NCDC has welcomed 54Gene’s help in increasing its potential to do more tests.

• 

“This is the kind of support we need. Identify a problem, run with it and include a sustainability plan in your solution. We are very grateful for this new partnership with 54gene at a critical point in our health security,” Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director General of NCDC, said.

• The improved capacity will be achieved by buying testing instruments, biosafety cabinets, personal protective equipment and other materials for the safety of health workers and caregivers involved in Nigeria’s response effort.

About The 54Gene Fund

• 54Gene launched the fund on Thursday, March 27th, 2020 with $150,000. Other donors like Union Bank, a first generation Nigerian financial institution, helped to boost the amount to $500,000.
• Fundraising is still in progress to raise the capacity to 5,000 tests per day.

A Look At What 54Gene Does

• Since its founding in 2019, 54Gene has gained praise for an out-of-the box business capable of putting Africa on the global healthcare map. The startup secured a $4.5 million seed funding barely 7 months after it launched. The sum was raised from investors like YCombinator, Fifty Years, Better Ventures, KdT Ventures, Hack VC and Techammer.
• At its core, the company is focused on creating the largest biobank of pan-African DNA in the world. It is a mission that could have a crucial impact on drug development, disease detection and quality of life on the continent.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com