Peter Nel

Peter Nel is a Chemical Engineer and biotechnology entrepreneur, and the founder and Chief Executive Officer of GES Labs, a pioneering South African genomics and molecular diagnostics company. With a vision to localise advanced biotechnology capabilities on the African continent, he established GES Labs to provide high-quality, scalable medicinal cannabis medicines tailored to African health and global industry needs.

Mr Nel has built a platform that bridges innovation and accessibility, strengthening South Africa’s novel medicine development and bio-pharma-manufacturing ecosystem. Under his leadership, GES Labs has expanded from specialised advanced research and development on cannabinoids to delivering worldwide medicine derived from cannabinoids that assist in therapeutic areas of pain, cachexia, opiate dependency, to name a few. The organisation has supported national medicinal capacity through the build-out of GMP medicine production facilities, quality control laboratories, and new medicine product development projects, while also building partnerships across academia, industry, and public health systems.

His work has contributed to expanding African biopharmamanufacturing, generic medicine security development, and decentralised medicine innovation, aligning with national and continental priorities for health sovereignty and biotechnology growth. He is recognised as an advocate for future-proofing Africa’s medicine security, actively contributing to talent development, technology transfer, and innovation-driven industrialisation.

In line with the Congress theme, “Synergies, Symbioses, Sustainability,” Mr Nel exemplifies translational biotechnology that connects research excellence with real-world impact. Through fostering public-private-academic collaboration, strengthening medicine sovereignty, and nurturing local scientific talent, he advances a biotechnology ecosystem rooted in partnership, resilience, and long-term sustainable growth for Africa.