About Genetix
The science only matters if you trust the people behind it
Before Genetix was a company, it was two people who couldn’t ignore what they were seeing.
Our Story
Two people seeing the potential of precision medicine from different perspectives.
George Rebello spent years in academia and diagnostics, working on implementing advances in precision medicine into useful clinical practice. He realised that pharmacogenomics could change outcomes for patients whose standard treatment plans simply weren’t working.
Janice Thomas brought a background across corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, and a personal reason to care about getting that same insight into more hands, sooner.
Together they saw the future. The technology existed. The clinical evidence existed. What didn’t exist was the knowledge of pharmacogenomics and its impact on patient outcomes, the practical implementation in clinical practice, and the evolution of personalised medicine.
Genetix started as an answer to that gap. Pharmacogenomics first, because medication response is where genetics has the most immediate, measurable impact on a patient’s day-to-day life. Cancer genetics, microbiome, and nutrigenomics testing followed, each added because the clinical case for it was strong, not because it was trending.
George and Janice’s initial discussions began in 2019; they started working on their dream and the forerunner to Genetix. Genetix was established in 2021 and began trading in 2023.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Four things we built deliberately, not as afterthoughts.
01
The PGx Live clinical portal
Lifelong access to a patient’s pharmacogenomic profile, not a one-time report. Clinicians can add medications, recalculate risk, and verify new prescriptions against a patient’s genetic profile at any time. With an additional feature of drug-drug interactions and advice on alternatives, clinicians can draft targeted and personalised treatment plans for better outcomes.
02
Built on African ancestry data
Our pharmacogenomics testing uses the Precision Medicine Diversity Array Plus, designed for diverse population coverage rather than extrapolated from European or North American cohorts. That matters for accuracy, and it’s rarely addressed elsewhere.
03
Direct access to our genetics team
Every report comes with direct access to the Genetix technical team for follow-up queries, so a clinician is never left interpreting a result alone.
04
Processed in a South African laboratory
No international shipping delays, no offshore black box. Testing happens locally, with local accountability for every sample.
THE DATA GAP
Precision medicine, built here.
African ancestry remains the most underrepresented population group in global genomic reference data; the datasets that most commercial genetic tests are built on come from elsewhere. That’s not a footnote for Genetix. It’s the reason the PMDA Plus array, with customisations, was chosen for our pharmacogenomics testing in the first place, and it’s the standard every new test is held to before it’s brought on.
South Africa hasn’t had a genetics company built around it rather than adapted for it. Bringing world-class precision medicine to this country means building it for the people who actually live here.
THE TEAM
The people behind Genetix
Janice Thomas
CEO and Founder
With years of experience in both corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, Janice discovered her true passion: personalised medicine.
Her unwavering mission is to enhance the quality of life for patients, families and all stakeholders in healthcare.
Janice's journey is deeply personal; having faced her own battle with cancer and the loss of a partner to medication mismanagement that could have been avoided.
"No one else should lose someone this way." — Janice Thomas
Dr George Rebello
Technical Director and Founder
With extensive experience in academia and diagnostics, George’s focus is transforming lives through personalised medicine, having seen its impact from psychiatry to oncology in patients with complex conditions.
He has experienced multiple cases where the Pharmacogenomic data has changed the lives of patients by identifying the optimal combination of medications suited to the patient’s specific genetic profile and optimised by their caring clinician.
"This is my why." — George Rebello
Tertia De Bruin
Sales Director
With a background in sales leadership, Tertia partners with medical schemes, hospital groups, and clinicians to drive the adoption of genetic testing as a way of life, helping providers unlock the value of genetic testing.
Tertia is passionate about turning complex science into practical impact. She is committed to establishing pharmacogenomics as an accessible, sustainable part of precision medicine, supporting psychiatrists, paediatricians, and oncologists as they use genetic insights to guide individualised treatment and improve patient outcomes.
Aerin McCallum
Technologist
Aerin has always been drawn to the intricacies of genetics, leading her to pursue a BSc in Psychology & Genetics. With a focus on this dynamic field. Since joining the company, Aerin has been fascinated by the transformative potential of genetics and its ability to shape the future of personalised medicine.
With a passion for learning and a deep desire to help others, Aerin assists with the technical side of the company, specifically in reporting. Excited about the impact pharmacogenomics can have on healthcare, Aerin is committed to supporting the team in making genetic insights more accessible and impactful for patients and providers alike.
OUR LABORATORY
Every sample, processed in South Africa.
Through our partner laboratory CPGR (Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research), with a state-of-the-art facility in Woodstock, Cape Town, we have substantially reduced internationally established turnaround times across the spectrum of genetics testing. With an ISO 9001 certification, CPGR’s Quality Management System is also run in strict accordance with both ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 15189.
Our mantra has become “keep the DNA in the country,” which also assists with less administration, no international courier delays, and stringent accountability.
South Africa
Sample processing
PMDA Plus
Genotyping array
CPIC, PharmGKB
Guideline alignment
80+
Gene panel
Book a test
Ready to find out what your genes have to say?
Every Genetix test starts with a conversation, not a checkout page. Get in touch with our team and we’ll take care of booking, scheduling and payment with you directly.