In this episode, I spoke to Atherton Mutombwera, CEO and founder of Hutano diagnostics Ltd about his journey from Zimbabwe, through a BPharm degree and a MSc in Nanomedicine in South Africa, to an MBA at the University of Oxford, UK. He told stories about how he was inspired by a sick parent and his desire to get out of the shadow of a sibling combined with his curiosity and ability to collaborate with others, to how his MSc research project formed the basis of his company. The company aims to develop a modular configurable platform using aptamers in lateral flow devices.

Aptamers are attractive because they are easy to make, stable and can be reliably produced without batch variation. The company is currently focused on developing techniques to immobilize aptamers on nitrocellulose which is the main technical hurdle to widespread use of aptamers in lateral flow devices.

Atherton offered his views, wrapped in personal stories, on networking and relationship building as a useful skill for entrepreneurs as well as the trends that are likely to impact the biotech space in the medium to long term.