When Michael Ling was a postdoctoral researcher at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children studying inherited metabolic diseases nearly twenty years ago, he needed a PCR polymerase, a reagent product supplied exclusively by a major global company. He was told that this essential product was on backorder for weeks. Since then, Michael has worked at numerous research companies and has continued to witness first-hand the price gauging, supply chain delays and international fees involved with obtaining said products in the Canadian market.
In 2011, Michael began crafting a solution for fellow Canadian researchers facing the various roadblocks involved with sourcing and supplying lab materials. He founded GeneBio Systems, Inc., a Toronto-based source for supplying lab supplies, reagents and consumables. He now provides lower costs and faster delivery times to researchers focusing on cures for diseases including cancer and Alzheimer’s across the country. GeneBio Systems has provided researchers across life science disciplines such as molecular biology, microbiology and cellular biology with methodologies such as PCR, DNA cloning, next gene sequencing and cell culturing.
Today, the company serves a customer base of over 1000 Canadian organizations such as University of Toronto, McGill University, University of British Columbia, Mount Sinai Hospital and the National Microbiology Lab all while continuing to capitalize on its ‘strength and science’ based approach to its product and service offerings. For example, GeneBio Systems’ PaCeR™ product is an alternative to products available from American sources, such as ThermoFisher’s Phusion™. Customers of GeneBio Systems’ PaCeR™ at the University of Guelph and University of Toronto and other institutions have managed to complete successful experiments upon their first attempts with the product after failures with competitors’ products presented their labs with roadblocks lasting several months.
GeneBio Systems prides itself upon its personalized concierge customer service. When customers need a product for an ongoing experiment, the company is able to deliver the product within a couple of hours to the customer’s lab or offer pickup options upon request. GeneBio Systems has additionally begun shipping 100% of its products with Purolator Express—thereby providing all customers with next-day delivery for ordered products.
While continuing to provide quality service to their customers in the Canadian market, GeneBio Systems is now receiving orders from institutions across Europe and the USA such as Harvard University. The company is now planning to scale up its success by opening an American distribution centre to help even more customers access premium lab products with ease.
