History
DNAtech is a veterinary laboratory that was born in 2004 out of an enormous desire to support veterinarians and provide prompt diagnoses in a segment that was practically non-existent in Portugal: veterinary clinical analysis.
Ângela Xufre, a researcher with a PhD in Microbial Biology and Genetics, is currently the administrator and driving force behind the DNAtech veterinary laboratory. In 2003, she was doing research and a PhD at the National Institute of Engineering, Technology and Innovation - INETI - when she was challenged to support a veterinary clinical analysis service for leishmaniasis screening, which until then had been provided by a start-up created by INETI and which was about to close its doors. The number of clients quickly rose from 50 to 150. The day it was no longer possible to continue the veterinary clinical analysis service, the question was: what to do with these clients?
That was when the idea of creating a veterinary laboratory arose. Putting the business idea into practice, Ângela Xufre travelled to various foreign countries to investigate the best of what was being done abroad in the field of veterinary clinical analysis.
She brought several kits and adapted them to national protocols, making use of her experience and research. After all, nothing brings her greater satisfaction than developing new techniques and laboratory methods and then giving them a practical application. The result was the birth of DNAtech and the growth of both the solutions offered to clinics and veterinary surgeons and the business indicators.
The market
DNAtech is Portugal’s first exclusively veterinary clinical analysis laboratory and currently counts more than 2,300 clients throughout the country. With veterinary laboratories in Lisbon, Porto and Algarve, it performs veterinary clinical analysis and research in Veterinary Medicine, constantly working as a team with the practitioner to guarantee fast and reliable diagnoses.
DNAtech’s history began in 2004 with Immunology, and then moved on to specialities such as Cytology, Haematology, Toxicology, Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Histopathology. The diversity of areas has been matched by the quality of the service, which has allowed it to work with the most prestigious national research institutions.
Our veterinary laboratory’s range of clients includes research groups from the pharmaceutical industry and the most prestigious institutes in the field, such as the Gulbenkian Institute of Science, the Institute of Molecular Medicine and the Institute of Nature Conservation. It also collaborates with several of the country’s universities, supporting doctoral and master’s theses, and with the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Science.
DNAtech key statistics
Number of DNAtech clients throughout the country, including the autonomous regions
Number of DNAtech employees, split between Lisbon, Oporto and Algarve
Number of veterinary clinical analysis performed daily by DNAtech
Number of DNAtech veterinary laboratories located in Lisbon, Porto and Algarve
DNAtech Clients
DNAtech has over 15 years’ experience in the field of veterinary clinical analysis, earning the trust of over 2,300 clients throughout the country. DNAtech also works with a wide range of institutions, from academia to major national institutes and the pharmaceutical industry.
DNAtech collaborates on scientific research projects with the following institutions:
- Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular
- Instituto de Conservação da Natureza
- Hospital de Santa Maria
- Universidade do Algarve
- Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa
- Faculdade de Farmácia
- Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
- Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Lusófona
- Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária
It also maintains protocols with:
- Guarda Nacional Republicana
- Câmara Municipal de Lisboa
- Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa
- Oceanário de Lisboa
DNAtech collaborates with several institutions in the pharmaceutical industry, testing the efficacy of a given drug before it is launched on the market. For instance, for vaccines, it performs tests to assess the period of protection.
The result is that more than 2,500 analysis are performed daily, which gives the DNAtech veterinary laboratory unparalleled experience in helping technicians in the field of veterinary medicine to solve even the most complicated and difficult problems.
