FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
School of Pharmacy:
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Services
About Us
The section PBS was structured within the School of Pharmacy in 2004. All commercial activities are managed as independent business units or as projects within PBS and are responsible for generating income from third, fourth and fifth money streams by selling analytical and clinical laboratory services, training, consultation and related services for profit to clients.
The client base of the PBS units comprises various national and international pharmaceutical companies, the cosmetic industry, procurement organisations, medicine regulatory authorities, private medical practitioners, pathology practices and the Department of Health.
Mission of PBS:
The mission of PBS is to commercialise pharmaceutical and biomedical expertise, services and innovation profitably, sustainably and in an entrepreneurial manner. PBS achieves this by utilising resources optimally, managing effectively, remaining strategically positioned, and being quality driven at all times.
Units within PBS:
RIIP is the biggest, most modern and best equipped pharmaceutical service provider in South Africa, while CENQAM has been rendering services as a quality control laboratory to the South African Medicines Control Council (MCC), other regulatory authorities and the World Health Organisation since 1987. CENQAM has had the status of WHO Cooperation Centre since 1995, and both RIIP and CENQAM are registered trademarks with the Department of Trade and Industry. This fact is reflected in the name of the combined unit, namely: "RIIP® incorporated CENQAM®"
The Clinical Pharmacokinetics Laboratory (CPL):
The unit renders services to private epileptic patients, hospitals and pathologists by determining the blood levels of anti-epileptic medication in patients' blood in order to establish patient cooperation and enable the physician to adjust or change medication meaningfully.
The World Health Organisation Cooperation Centre for Quality Assurance of Medicines:
The Centre sells pharmaceutic analytical and consultation services to the WHO and its clients. The cooperation centre makes an exceptional contribution to the quality assurance of medicine, particularly in the Africa region, through both analytical and training services that are provided at the request of the WHO.
The PEPFAR project:
The American President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, entails that the American government votes 15 billion American dollars over 5 years towards combatting HIV/AIDS worldwide. The plan aims to offer support to preventive, treatment and care programmes, particularly in the 15 countries worst hit by HIV/AIDS.
The Unit for Cosmetic Efficacy Studies:
The unit renders services to the cosmetic industry by verifying the claims that manufacturers of cosmetics make about their products. The fact that South African cosmetic manufacturers experience problems in exporting their products due to a lack of claim verification, led to the establishment of the unit.