Building biotechnology in Africa — an interview with Yaw Bediako

According to Yaw Bediako, research and technology are the vehicles for improving people’s lives. This includes generating genomic data on understudied groups to enhance precision medicine and to make it accessible to those who are currently underserved. It also covers building research capacity in Ghana and other African countries to promote academic independence and economic success.

Read on to find out how improving lives drives Yaw, his work, and his business.

Transitioning from academic to entrepreneur

Yaw Bediako was always drawn to becoming a scientist. He had a clear goal: establish a research group at home in Ghana to lead cutting-edge immunology research and to train the next generation of African scientists. But once he began making that dream a reality, he hit a major obstacle: unsustainable funding.

Most funding he could access was from philanthropic agencies or government bodies overseas. This presented two key problems. First, external funders often have research agendas that do not reflect local priorities; yet, it is the local researchers embedded in their communities who are best equipped to identify unmet needs. Second, global events can lead to research grants being cut and diverted. Yaw experienced this first-hand when, after completing an eight-month application process and securing a prestigious fellowship from the Royal Society, he received the news that his funding was cancelled.

As there are still significant infrastructural needs within Ghana and across the continent of Africa, local governments prioritise funding for infrastructure over research. So what was the alternative for Yaw?

In Europe and North America, about 75% of research and development happens in the private sector. Whilst this type of work is often focused on translational applications, Yaw recognised that the products, services, and capital created by these entities can be used to help local people. And that is when it hit him — ‘African scientists are going to have to build African biotechnology. So why not me?’.

Why start a biotech company in Africa?

In 2021, Yaw, alongside his three co-founders, founded Yemaachi Biotechnology (Yemaachi) with a bold ambition: to improve precision oncology by leveraging Africa’s unparalleled genetic diversity. The goal is to generate data that can be used for biomarker or drug discovery research, with the hope of improving health globally.

Africa is home to the most genetically diverse human population on the planet. Choudhury et al. uncovered more than three million previously undescribed variants just by sequencing 426 African individuals. From this research, they concluded that African genome variation could provide a strong genomic reference for medical genetics — reshaping health worldwide¹.

African communities have a high degree of diversity and a large effective population size, meaning that alleles that are rare or absent in other populations can be identified in these communities. The relationship between genomes and disease is also easier to identify in African communities than other populations because haplotype blocks tend to be small due to high recombination rates. Researchers can use this in genome-wide association studies to pinpoint causal variants with ease².

Africa is not just part of the solution to improve health — it is central to it. So why should it be African researchers and companies like Yemaachi who drive genetic research in Africa?

Embedding social impact into research

Yaw notes that one reason African ancestry is so underrepresented in global genetic databases is that many communities are hesitant to participate in research. Historically, marginalised groups have been exploited in the name of science, and that legacy has created a lingering mistrust toward medical research and clinical trials² .

Genetic data is personal, and you need trust to share it. African scientists working with African people would go a long way to help build and maintain that trust to undertake large-scale studies.

Yemaachi is also a force for job creation, economic success, and it builds capacity in the local economies. Take sequencing, for example. Yemaachi is the first institution in Ghana to have a PromethION 2 Solo, with plans to scale up to a PromethION 24 to increase capacity. By eliminating the need to send samples abroad, fast results and a strong, self-reliant research ecosystem become the norm.

Finally, the company strives to ensure that the products and services they create for commercial purposes can still play a role in improving the lives of the local communities.

Why focus on cancer research?

The focus at Yemaachi on cancer was partially shaped by personal loss. After his father died from liver cancer, Yaw started to delve into the world of oncology and the realities of cancer in Africa. African nations have some of the highest cancer mortality rates globally, and cancer incidence is expected to double by 2040³. Yet African populations remain largely invisible within cancer research^3,4.

Whilst engaging with local paediatric oncologists, Yaw saw how these challenges extend to childhood leukaemia: a cancer that is highly treatable in high-income countries. Many children in Africa receive late diagnosis as doctors often first assume symptoms point to malaria, a very common illness in this continent. Furthermore, even when treatment begins, without a means to measure residual disease, children may receive chemotherapy beyond what is necessary to treat their cancer, putting them at risk of catching an infectious disease.

These insights inspired Yaw and the Yemaachi team to partner with Ghanaian paediatric oncologists to develop the PROGRESS project in the hopes of answering the question:

Concrete steps to improve healthcare outcomes

Today, Yemaachi is using whole-genome sequencing to analyse cancer research samples from children in Ghana. Their goal is to identify structural variants (SVs) and other mutations driving disease. The capacity for Oxford Nanopore technology to sequence reads of any length makes it easy to identify SVs, which are known to be especially relevant in oncology⁵. Over 380 children have been recruited to date, vastly increasing the genetic data available for this previously underrepresented group. The team expect that they will identify novel variants as this population has never been studied before, and this could lead to new biomarkers or treatment strategies.

The next phase of the project is to adapt the sequencing protocol for minimal residual disease detection. This is based on a collaboration with Dr Sarra Ryan and her team at Newcastle University, UK. Minimal residual disease detection is critical information for treatment plans. If doctors know a child’s cancer has been completely cleared, they can safely reduce or stop chemotherapy. However, if they detect residual disease, they can appropriately adjust treatment. The team hopes to implement minimal residual disease testing by mid-2026, delivering results fast enough to directly inform care decisions and to ultimately improve survival outcomes.

The future of Yemaachi

Yaw hopes that the PROGRESS project will make a tangible difference in the lives of children with cancer. The short-term goal? Double the survival rates from 30% to 60%. This would make a strong case for funding, allowing teams across multiple countries in Africa to replicate and deploy the molecular toolkit developed during the PROGRESS project.

But the vision does not stop there. Yaw sees Yemaachi as just the beginning — the first of many companies that can drive revenue, innovation, and global leadership from within the African continent. It signals the start of a technological revolution. Rather than steel factories and coal, it will be genomes and biomarkers that define this revolution. So, when people think of Africa, they will think of biotech start-ups and biotech excellence.

Learn more about how sequencing diverse reference genomes can improve and unlock a more inclusive era of precision medicine.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies and the Wheel icon are registered trademarks or the subject of trademark applications of Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc in various countries. Information contained herein may be protected by patents or patents pending of Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc. © 2025 Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc. All rights reserved. Oxford Nanopore Technologies products are not intended for use for health assessment or to diagnose, treat, mitigate, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Oxford Nanopore Technologies present the materials of third parties within the user community acknowledging that those materials belong to and are the true statements and representations of those third parties. Oxford Nanopore Technologies make no endorsements of the materials shown and the statements made.