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Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Ballas
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(804) 754-2714
[email protected]
COMMONWEALTH BIOTECHNOLOGIES, INC. ACQUIRES DRUG
DEVELOPMENT CONTRACTS FROM SRA LIFE SCIENCES, INC.
RICHMOND, VA (January 16, 2001) - Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ
small cap exchange: CBTE) announced that it has purchased the current contracts
and the rights to pending contracts of the Drug Development Group of SRA Life
Sciences, Inc., (SRA) Falls Church, VA. Terms of the agreement were not
disclosed.
SRA's Drug Development Group's core staff, including its Director of Drug
Development, has joined CBI to support ongoing and future projects. These
individuals will continue to operate from Falls Church, VA.
Drug development comprises consulting, management, and implementation of all
services required to move a client's drug, process, or device candidate through
its research and development phase, pre-clinical laboratory studies, clinical
trials, and regulatory phases of the regulatory approval process.
"This acquisition completes the continuum of services required to support a
client's product or process from its conceptualization through its presentation
to regulatory agencies for final pre-market approval. We believe this makes us
a unique industry resource covering the full spectrum of services to support a
product from "CONCEPT TO CLINIC ", said Richard J. Freer, Ph.D., Chairman of
CBI. "We will begin a very aggressive marketing effort to reach not only new
clients but also to raise the awareness of our current client base, many of
which have products in their pipelines which could benefit from this new
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capability. We intend to target small to medium biotech companies seeking to
commercialize their products but which don't have in-house regulatory
expertise," Freer added. Freer notes too, "It is also important to point out
that the core personnel of SRA, including its Director of Drug Development,
Sandra J. Hecker, RAC, have all joined CBI. Retention of the existing team is,
of course, important for existing clients but it should also be important for
new clients to know that there is a fully synergistic group to support their
projects."
In addition to offering contract research services, CBI has or is a partner to
several intellectual properties. More specifically, it owns all rights to the
patented lead human pharmaceutical, HepArrestTM, a specific reversal agent for
the anti-coagulant heparin. The company is currently seeking pharmaceutical
partners to license and commercialize this drug.
Robert B. Harris, Ph.D., President of CBI and a co-inventor of the drug stated
that, "CBI believes HepArrestTM has performed well in the laboratory and is now
ready to enter the pre-clinical regulatory phase of its development. The
acquisition of this drug development expertise will allow us to more effectively
move this drug candidate along its development path and, assuming positive
outcomes, to significantly enhance its value to potential licensees." Harris
also notes that, "CBI has other intellectual properties both internally and
through partnerships, which are at or close to the point where they could also
begin to enter the regulatory phase of development. Bottom line; this
acquisition should be a significant asset to CBI, not only as a revenue source
but also by supporting CBI's own intellectual products."
Recently, Commonwealth Biotechnologies (CBI) has been aggressively establishing
the many technology platforms to support its clients' needs. Currently, the
company offers full capabilities in the areas of molecular design and synthesis,
genome services, proteomics, immunochemistry, molecular biology, as well as
technologies, such as large scale fermentation and environmental analyte
detection, which are provided to its clients through joint venture or strategic
partnership arrangements.
CBI has chosen to keep the Drug Development Group at its current Falls Church
location to take advantage of the proximity to the Federal Regulatory Agencies.
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As Chet Trzaski, Manager of Business Development at CBI points out, "A presence
in the northern Virginia/Maryland area is not only important for the Drug
Development Group but will also allow us to become more visible in a highly
dynamic biotech market. Given the high density of biotech related companies in
the region, it should be fertile ground for marketing our other services in the
realm of drug discovery, genome services, proteomics, and related areas."
Founded in 1992, CBI is located in Gateway Centre, 601 Biotech Drive, Richmond,
Virginia 23235 (1-800-735-9224). CBI occupied this 32,000 square foot facility
in December 1998 and currently employs a staff of 40 including twelve doctoral
scientists. CBI provides comprehensive research and development services to
more than 1,500 private, government, and academic customers in the global
biotechnology industry. For more information, visit CBI on the web at
www.cbi-biotech.com.
Any statements contained in this release that relate to future plans, events or
performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties
as identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Actual results, events or performance may differ materially.
Readers are cautioned not to place undo reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as the date hereof. Specifically, the company
cannot guarantee that drug development services will be successfully implemented
and will be profitable. Similarly, the company cannot guarantee that
HepArrestTM or its other intellectual properties will ever be commercialized or
profitable. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the
results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to
reflect the events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events.
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