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23 January 2019 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Charlene Stanley
Michele Middle
Michelle Middle, CMO of Farmovs, looks forward to expanding their operations after the UFS acquired 100% shareholding in 2018.

In medical research, there are NO shortcuts.

The journey of a new medicine from lab to pharmacy shelf takes on average at least 10 years.

Michelle Middle’s journey from young medical graduate starting her first job at FARMOVS to becoming the company’s Chief Medical Officer, was more than twice that long. It was a journey that systematically and adequately equipped her to now Co-captain this flagship enterprise through its biggest challenge yet.

Michelle remembers how Farmovs started in 1974 as a research centre in the Department of Pharmacology. After graduating as medical doctor, she joined Farmovs in 1993, shortly before they moved to their current extensive facilities just south of the Sasol Library.

In 2000, international Clinical Research Organization (CRO) giant Parexel acquired a 70% shareholding, and the name changed to Farmovs-Parexel.

“Parexel really invested a lot in infrastructure and technology, bringing facilities here on par with the best in the world,” says Michelle.

Her own journey in medical research took her to George and later to the US and UK, where she held various international executive leadership positions in international companies.

When the UFS acquired a 100% shareholding in Farmovs earlier this year, she came full circle, as she returned to Bloemfontein to spearhead the expansion of patient studies in collaboration with the Faculty of Health Sciences.

“The opportunities we have here are really enormous,” says an excited Michelle.

“We are the only university in the country with this kind of infrastructure. Apart from our state-of-the-art bioanalytical lab, we also have facilities to accommodate close to 100 research participants. We now have 45 years’ experience in advanced medical research, plus established international clients. We can provide pharmaceutical companies with basically everything they need to develop new medicines.”

Another exciting development is that they are expanding their clinical-trial patient population next year from healthy individuals to people suffering from a host of chronic conditions.

“While they are part of our clinical trials, patients gain valuable insight in their own conditions. We also sometimes pick up underlying medical issues they were not even aware of,” says Michelle.

The 150 Farmovs staff members range from doctors and nurses, to technologists, medical writers, and managers. While not technically part of the university staff, they form a valued part of the Bloemfontein Campus community.

News Archive

nGAP lecturers welcomed by the UFS academic community
2016-06-30

Description: nGAP lecturers group photo Tags: nGAP lecturers group photo

University of the Free State’s newly-appointed nGAP
lecturers. From the left, Neo Mathinya,
Phumudzo Tharaga, and Kelebogile Boleu.

The University of the Free State (UFS) was allocated six positions as part of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP). Four candidates have filled positions in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of the Humanities and the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences – with two positions still vacant.

According to Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, nGAP is part of the Staffing South Africa's Universities Framework, which focuses on the expansion of the size and compilation of academic staff at South African universities, especially with regard to transformation. The focus of the programme is the appointment of black and coloured candidates as well as women.

The Department of Soil, Crop, and Climate Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences welcomed two nGAP lecturers, Phumudzo Tharaga and Neo Mathinya. The Faculty was allocated four positions. Two positions are filled, while two positions in the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences are almost ready to be filled with exceptional candidates.

Agrometeorologist with his feet on the ground
Phumudzo Tharaga holds an MSc from the UFS, and is currently pursuing a PhD. Tharaga’s research focuses on quantifying the water use efficiency of sweet cherry orchards under different climate conditions in the Eastern Free State. Tharaga will offer his students a wealth of practical experience, which he began accumulating while working at ABSA as an agro-meteorologist, before moving on to become a senior scientist at the South African Weather Service. In 2015, Tharaga became a research technologist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and then returned to the UFS as an nGAP candidate at the beginning of 2016.  

Description: Beynon Abrahams, nGap lecturer Tags: Beynon Abrahams, nGap lecturer

Beynon Abrahams, nGap lecturer
at the Faculty of Heath Sciences
Department of Basic medicine

Motivated scholar turned academic
Neo Mathinya, who hails from Taung in the North West, has made the UFS her home. She received both her undergraduate and honours degrees from the university. Apart from joining the department as a lecturer under the nGAP initiative, she is currently studying for her MSc in Soil Physics. She will continue with this research when she comes to her PhD. Mathinya’s research focuses on soil salinity - the process of increasing salt content - which affects the ability of plants to take up water, a process, known as osmotic stress. She will investigate the effects of irrigation water salinity on the grain yield and quality of malt barley.

Researcher with a passion for crime prevention
Kelebogile Boleu joined the Department of Criminology in the Faculty of Humanities, with a fresh take on diversion and crime prevention. Boleu holds a BA Criminology (Hons) and is now pursuing her Master’s degree. She worked for NICRO a non-profit organisation specialising in social crime prevention and offender reintegration, with programmes that prevent young and first-time offenders from re-offending, thus reducing crime. Boleu said that her practical experience makes her lectures to third-year criminology students exciting. Boleu’s research focuses on analysing the value of pre-sentencing reports in assisting adjudicators to make well-balanced judgments in cases.   

Research with a winning plan for fight against breast cancer
Beynon Abrahams joined the Department of Basic Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Abrahams holds a BSc, BSc (Hons), and MSc in Medical Biosciences from the University of the Western Cape. Abrahams’ Master’s research focused on breast cancer, research on which he is building in his PhD. This doctoral research involves the exploration of P-glycoprotein, a protein expressed on cancer cell and responsible for multi-drug resistance in cancer treatment. The aim of this research is to develop a therapeutic drug treatment strategy that will improve breast cancer patient survival outcomes. Abrahams’s greater vision is to look at conventional cancer therapeutic regimens, to find ways in which they can be improved.

The nGAP initiative offers these young lecturers an opportunity for growth and development as academics, while providing them with opportunities they would have not have been exposed to otherwise.

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