FIMG # 01/13
Project Title: NeoOligos (Piloting of Oligonucleotide Synthesis and Bioinformatics Service in
Georgia)
Science Team PI: George Kamkamidze
Institute: Georgian Maternal and Child Care Union
Partner: Ltd Clinical Laboratory “Neolab”
NeoOligos - Oligonucleotides’ (oligos) designing and synthesis service will be a rapid and
affordable development and production of the unique sequences of nucleic acids (DNA and
RNA) according to the specific needs and aims of the different customers represented by
research laboratories in academia, public health institutions, medical facilities as well as
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, which is an emerging and very rapidly growing field
in the country. The oligos will be synthesized using four nucleotides (like “four-letter alphabet”)
as the building blocks of the genetic sequences with infinite number of possible combinations.
The particular combinations will be determined by the customer in collaboration with the MCCU
team according to their unique aims. At the initial stage the synthesis of short (<40 nucleotides)
oligos (probes and primers) is very feasible as far as these types of the oligos is in highest
demand and represent the major portion of all nucleotides produced for the laboratories and other
facilities. The proposed service will be a rapid and cheap on-site (in-country) alternative to the
commercial service from the large biotechnology companies working internationally.
Georgia is currently facing the extreme need in the development and implementation of new
molecular technologies, which has revolutionized biomedical sciences. In the country
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique is now used routinely by the growing number of
laboratories working in the different fields of biology, medicine, public health, agriculture,
veterinary, environmental sciences, etc, while the DNA sequencing is the emerging method
implemented by limited number of advanced laboratories. Although the basic reagents for the
PCR and DNA sequencing are readily (commercially) available as “core kits” from the different
manufacturers selling their products internationally, the very specific “portions” of the reagent
sets represented by oligos (probes) are in most cases ordered separately according to the specific
needs of the particular research teams working on the specific research topics. Currently in
almost all cases oligonucleotides are ordered to commercial suppliers working internationally.
This approach has several disadvantages including international shipments, usually with long
delivery time and the high costs, complicated procedures of customs clearance with high tax
restricting flexibility and efficiency in research activities. The same problem exists also in the
other countries of the region (first of all in Armenia and Azerbaijan).
The aim of the proposed service is to fill the gap in the access to such specific reagents through
the introduction of the oligonucleotide design and synthesis service in Georgia. It is crucial to
assemble at least a small-scale, low-through-put facility for the oligos’ synthesis. Basic
bioinformatics tools including internet-based primer design software will be incorporated in the
service. Also special web site will be created for the placing orders by the researchers for the
nucleotide sequences according to their specific needs and study aims. Through the web-site any
customer will be able to type directly into the appropriate electronic fields the genetic sequences
of the oligonucleotides needed for their project using simple “four letter (nucleotide) alphabet”.
At the next stages the established small facility has a potential to be transformed into the larger
“core facility” serving many different research sites in the country and potentially, in the region,
for oligos design and synthesis according to the progress of the started business. Oligonucleotide
synthesis and bioinformatics service, will be rapid, flexible and cheap on-site (in-country)
alternative to the commercial service from the large biotechnology companies, where the
shipment usually costs at least 10- times more than the product (oligonucleotide probes) itself.
There is an apparent trend towards rapid and intensive rise of the use of molecular technologies
in many different fields in the region. The target market is primarily domestic – at the initial
stage the service will be provided on the territory of Georgia. Further developments of the
service will make it possible to expand it to the regional level, first of all to the neighboring
countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine. The preliminary interaction with potential customers
confirmed their acute needs and growing interest in the rapid, flexible and non-expensive service
for the genetic probes design and synthesis. Potential customers include:
 Central Public Health Research Laboratory (CPHRL) - a leading public health laboratory in
the whole region;
 Research laboratories in Academia working in the field of biology and medicine;
 Public health institutions;
 Medical clinics and hospitals;
 Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
It is expected that at least 10% of the oligos’ market could be covered by our service during the
first two years of operation rising up to at least 30% for the fourth year after the start of the
business.