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January 24, 2007 Vol. 2, Issue 1
All the Best in 2007!
It has been a busy interlude between newsletters as we have focused on completing the acquisition of Mimotopes Pty Ltd. All the required SEC documents have been filed, proxies are in the mail, and a shareholder vote is scheduled for February 9th. Management and the Board of Directors strongly encourage shareholders to vote for it. We have detailed our reasons in a Jan. 5, 2007, letter to shareholders.
This issue of CBI Messenger focuses on vaccines. The lead article, describing the potential of vaccines as biopharmaceuticals, is written by Dr. Robert V. House, president and chief scientific officer of DynPort Vaccine, Co., a CSC company. Dr. House, a recognized expert in vaccine development, has been invited to present at numerous international conferences.
Dr. Nick Ede, chief scientific officer of our proposed acquiree, Mimotopes, contributes a technical article on their proprietary PepSets technology. This technology is the basis for preparing peptide libraries, that is, families of peptides -- which, among other applications, are useful in identifying target regions in proteins that are more likely to result in potent vaccines.
Our Q&A piece this issue queries Dr. Paul D'Sylva, co-founder and managing director of PharmAust Ltd and executive director of Mimotopes Pty Ltd., who will join CBI board of directors and management team as chief executive officer. He addresses the way forward for CBI following the Mimotopes acquisition.
Finally, Tom Reynolds returns with a crossword puzzle, "Protein and Peptides", appropriately focused on peptides. The first two readers to correctly complete the puzzle will win a two-week "all expenses paid" trip to Paris or a 1GB MP3 Player. The prize selection committee is still deliberating!
Feature Story
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Vaccines as Biopharmaceuticals
Dr. Robert V. House
President and Chief Scientific Officer
DynPort Vaccine, Co. |
Vaccines have contributed more to overall human health and quality of life than any other medicine. Diseases that formerly caused untold morbidity are now suppressed to the point of extinction (smallpox) or near extinction (polio), and so-called childhood diseases such as measles and mumps are not feared as they once were. Widespread epidemics are rare, at least in the developed world. And yet, as a species, we are still dying from infectious disease in untold numbers. Diseases are spread by insects, water, air and direct contact. Particularly in the developing world, the underlying conditions make eradication of these diseases difficult, if not intractable.
The developed world also faces the threat of infectious disease. In fact, a number of conditions are emerging to suggest that the specter of epidemic and even pandemic disease is actually becoming more, not less, urgent. First, the dynamics of treatment options are shifting. Bacteria once easily controlled in the past are gaining resistance to even the most potent antibiotics (for example, the advancing risk of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, MRSA). Drugs for parasitic and fungal maladies are generally associated with certain toxicities, and viruses remain essentially untreatable except for palliative measures. To this, add the complications of previously unknown (or at least un-encountered) diseases now becoming more common, the threat of pathogens being used as agents or warfare or terrorism, and the potentially apocalyptic consequences of engineered pathogens being released into the human population, and it is clear that we indeed live in dangerous times. More.Research Notes
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PepSetTM Peptide Libraries
for Immunological Applications
by Nicholas J. Ede (PhD)
Chief Scientific Officer
Mimotopes Pty Ltd |
PepSets peptide libraries are a rapid and cost effective solution for an immense range of bioactivity screening purposes. Mimotopes PepSets are custom-synthesized peptide libraries supplied for fast, efficient screening work. These sets of chemically synthesized individual peptides are made on a small scale using Mimotopes' unique proprietary parallel array synthesis platform. PepSets comprising hundreds, or even thousands, of peptides are rapidly synthesized and shipped within a few weeks of ordering.
Peptide Libraries are used for diverse purposes, from peptide epitope mapping and structure-activity studies to the search for peptide drugs. Understanding the basis of clinical disease related to the immune system, whether arising from protective immunity, immunopathology, transplant rejection or reaction to mutated cancer cells, may require testing of large numbers of individuals over many proteins or epitopes. This may be possible only with peptide libraries. To achieve the broad surveys needed, it is critical to use peptide reagents with the right characteristics.
The most common use of PepSets in immunology is for B- and T-cell epitope mapping. An overview of the design guidelines for epitope mapping is shown in Table 1. PepSets are ideal for T cell epitope searching, because T cell epitopes are by nature short linear peptides from the primary protein sequence. They are also appropriate for scanning the primary sequence of proteins for linear, or continuous, antibody-defined epitopes. More.
Q&A with Dr. Paul D'Sylva
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In continuation of its growth strategy, CBI is in the final stages of acquiring Mimotopes Pty Ltd, a drug discovery services company based in Melbourne, Australia. The Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the proposal on Feb., 9, 2007. The CBI Board of Directors has unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed the acquisition, not only for potential revenues and profits that Mimotopes | might contribute but for a number of intangibles. These have been communicated in a letter to shareholders.
One of these "intangibles" is that, upon closing, Dr. Paul D'Sylva will join CBI as CEO. He has more than seven years senior executive experience managing biotechnology and pharmaceutical R&D enterprises within industry and university. Recently, Dr. D'Sylva was queried as to how he sees the way forward for CBI following this acquisition. His responses follow.
Paul, what is your strategy for CBI after the Mimotopes acquisition?
The strategy for CBI is to build a leading contract drug-discovery solutions house. This will be achieved by:
- Building leading positions in selected growth markets;
- Nurturing a collaborative sales culture focusing on preferred supplier agreements and partnerships;
- Targeting larger contracts;
- Providing centralized support to enable business unit pursuit of growth;
- Expanding chemistry and biology services. More.
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The Reynolds Brain Wracker
Think you're as smart as Tom Reynolds? Let's see if you can complete his "Protein and Peptides" crossword puzzle. Fax in the correct solution to (804) 648-2641. The first two readers will win a 1GB MP3 Player!
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Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc., collaborates with clients to solve complex laboratory testing problems at its secure, state-of-the-art facilities in Richmond, Va.
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Investor Relations November 28, 2006
Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. Announces Signing of Stock Purchase Agreement to Acquire Mimotopes Pty Ltd
November 10, 2006 Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. Reports Financial Results Through September, 2006
September 12, 2006 Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. Announces New Contracts
August 09, 2006
Fairfax Identity Laboratories', a division of Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc, testifies at Farrington Trial.
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