Olev Kahre: The Story of Solis BioDyne

  • Published: 11 March 2025
Every company has to start from somewhere. There can either be an “aha” moment - a sudden spark of inspiration that sets everything in motion. Other times it can happen gradually with ideas coming and going until something bigger grows out of all this brainstorming. For Solis BioDyne, it was the latter. As we celebrate 30 years since our founding, we think it’s the perfect time to share our origin story with you.

Building something meaningful is never a solo effort. Many people played a role in founding Solis BioDyne, and today, we turn to one of our co-founders, Olev Kahre, to share his journey of how it all began.

Olev became passionate about science at a young age. Since the internet wasn’t invented yet, he used to get science popularization books from the library where everything was explained clearly and understandably without any political bias which was unfortunately common in school textbooks and newspapers at the time. Physics and chemistry captured his interest, but molecular biology and molecular genetics, then-emerging fields, held a special allure.

Olev’s love for science was further influenced by his chemistry and math teachers who inspired him to get more hands-on experience. In 1981, thanks to the support of his chemistry teacher, Olev was accepted to the Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics in Tallinn where he used to spend time after school. It was an experience that hadn’t been offered to anyone before. There, under the mentorship of Prof. Raivo Vilu and senior scientist Merike Kelve, he studied separating DNA, electrophoresis, cloning, and other fundamental methods used in molecular biology. Olev learned a lot and remains forever grateful to his mentors who significantly impacted his further life choices. They remain in touch to this day.

After high school, Olev pursued a degree in chemistry (biochemistry) at the University of Tartu, because biology was a little too green at the time. That is where the idea of founding a company started to take form, but it took a while to make it a reality. Science was largely confined to universities, with funding directed toward basic research rather than practic
al applications. Olev saw this as a good opportunity to change direction. He wanted to do something with a direct impact on society and the world, which meant stepping beyond academia and into business.

Olev Kahre and Agu Artma at the Nanoparticles
Symposium in Florida, 2006.

The early 90s was a time of change in Estonia. Although that created a good foundation to make something new, mixing science and business was met with skepticism. Starting a biotechnology company was unheard of and there were no examples to look up to. This did not discourage Olev though. Through his wife, he found himself a business partner Agu Artma who has a degree in finance and accounting. Together they decided to become the pioneers in Estonia and make something interesting - a biotechnology company that would help society through new and scientific approaches. As their vision took shape, more people joined in, laying the foundation for what would become Solis BioDyne.

But why PCR? That wasn’t the first thought that came to mind, but it was the thought that stuck. As a young scientist, Olev was deeply involved with nucleic acid synthesis. He is either the only one or one of the few people in Estonia who has synthesized around 15000 primers. The initial idea was to have a nucleic acid synthesis company, but the concept evolved from there to producing PCR reagents, which is what we have been doing for 30 years. From one initial method, the company grew into a hub for innovation in enzymes, biochemistry, and protein chemistry.

Olev’s brightest memories from starting the company have to do with the initial experiments and the excitement of inventing our first products. Finding out about different amino acid mutations, their characteristics, molecule masses, and the sequences of restriction sites. Throughout the 30 years, one of his proudest achievements is the invention of our reverse transcriptase which came after our regular polymerases and making the ribonuclease inhibitor. But what brings him the greatest joy is doing it all together as a team since none of this would have been possible without having an incredible collective around.

The same team experience can also be applied to inventing Solis BioDyne’s name and logo. Both were a combination of ideas from multiple different people. Olev was the one who came up with the BioDyne part of the name. He also really wanted the company’s name to have two parts, knowing from the start that it needed to be global—something that would resonate beyond Estonia. Solis references the sun. The Bio part is quite obvious. Dyne is the unit of force and comes from the CGS system of units which predates the modern SI unit system. Fun fact: dyne is the force required to accelerate a mass of one gram at a rate of one centimeter per second squared.

Our logo was invented by Tiina Kahre and Agu Artma. While our current logo has been modernized, its core elements remain unchanged. When it comes to the meaning of the logo, Olev offers only a hint: “Practically every basic technology and sign used in molecular biology is encoded in the logo. If you know a little bit about the field, you will see different associations. It’s up to you how you choose to interpret the symbol.”

When you are curious enough, you can probably figure out all that is hidden in our logo. That same curiosity has driven Olev since the 80s, keeping him engaged with science and Solis BioDyne to this day. “We, the curious ones, are observers and explorers. It’s our job to study the scientific world - how it is built, how it functions. And that is fascinating!” explains Olev his endless inquisitiveness. He loves to continuously learn new things whether it’s chemistry, molecular biology, quant physics or nanotechnology.

If there’s one lesson Olev has learned, it’s that learning never stops. "You can’t just say, ‘I’ve achieved my goal, and now I’m done.’ Learning is continuous. The world evolves rapidly, and new technologies emerge all the time. You have to keep up and adapt—whether you like it or not."

For Olev, the three most important qualities are adaptability, changeability, and the ability to learn. "When you get tired of learning," he jokes, "go back to the beginning of this sentence."

In the next 30 years, Olev hopes that he and Solis BioDyne will continue to do research, discover new things, invent new products, and come up with innovative solutions. After all, his favorite mottos are: “Never say never” and “The show must go on”.

Here’s to the next 30 years of curiosity, discovery, and scientific breakthroughs!