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February 28, 2006 Vol. 1, Issue 1
Welcome to the "new" Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. We're the same company we always were: nimble, creative and expert in early-stage biotech discovery. But based on extensive input from former and current clients, we're presenting a new face to the public.
Where we once highlighted our wide range of technical capabilities, we now are emphasizing what our clients have told us is our major value-added asset -- our innovative, problem-solving approach to facilitating the discovery process.
In that spirit, last month we reorganized and re-launched CBI's website. Today we inaugurate our newsletter, the CBI Messenger, as a means to share our thinking across a spectrum of topics pertaining to the life sciences industry; new technologies, CBI's service offerings, regulatory issues, and the like.
We are also cognizant of our "owners", CBI's shareholders, and for them we have included an Investor Relations section that will link to our historical SEC filings, NASDAQ, press releases, and other relevant information.
If there are any subjects that you'd like us to discuss in future editions, or if you have feedback on how we can improve, please email me.
P.S. If you don't want to receive this newsletter, just click here to unsubscribe. If you think it might be of interest to a colleague, please use our built-in forward-to-a-friend feature to forward a clean copy of the newsletter.
Feature Story
Research Genes Over-Expressed at CBI!
The "new" Commonwealth Biotechnologies is returning to its scientific roots: collaborating with clients to provide the highest quality scientific expertise and an exceptional technology base to support early-stage drug discovery.
by James A. Bacon
The executives and scientists of Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc., have always known what their strengths were. But in the day-to-day press of business, they didn't always communicate those attributes to clients and prospects.
CBI, founded by three scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University, had booked new business mainly through personal contacts and referrals. The company has never hired a sales or marketing manager, nor put in place a significant sales force. In recent years, it has focused on building strategic relationships but there has never been anyone whose singular focus was to position the company in the laboratory R&D marketplace.
The face that CBI presented to the world through its brochures and website was largely a catalog of its technological capabilities. "We were marketing our technologies," says Chairman Richard J. Freer and Chief Operating Officer. "For a small company, we have a pretty impressive range of technologies and expertise."
CBI had other strengths, such as project management prowess and problem-solving abilities. "Scientists love to brainstorm, to look for innovative solutions for problems," Freer says. "It's what they do by nature and CBI's scientists are exceptionally good at it." But the company viewed these capabilities internally as just something one does to support a client's R&D program.
Last year that all changed. CBI successfully completed an equity raise and portions of the proceeds were earmarked to bolster the company's sales and marketing program. The first step was to create a strategic marketing plan. In preparation for that effort, the company hired Kelly O'Keefe, a nationally known branding consultant, to conduct a customer satisfaction survey.
The findings from that survey generated an epiphany both in how CBI thought of itself and portrayed itself to others. "We've gone through a metamorphosis," says Freer. "We've gone from a menu-driven approach to a project focus with bundled services and a major emphasis on our problem-solving skills. More.
Client Profile
Working with DVC to Stamp Out Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis
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Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE) is a mosquito-borne virus found in Central and South America that has killed hundreds of thousands of horses and afflicted tens of thousands of humans over the years. The disease, which causes severe, flu-like symptoms, sometimes leading to fatal encephalitis, is nasty enough that U.S. authorities have identified it as a potential bio-terror agent. VEE is on the CDC A list of Select Agents. |
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Tom Reynolds |
Last August, DynPort Vaccine Co. (DVC), a CSC company and a developer of biodefense vaccines and therapeutics, embarked upon Phase 1 clinical trials for a vaccine to protect against VEE. In administering the vaccine to horses and humans, the company needed a test to identify any traces of the virus shed by the vaccine. To develop that test, DVC turned to Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. More.
Q&A with Kelly O'Keefe
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CBI Messenger chatted recently with Kelly O'Keefe, principal of O'Keefe Brands, the firm that conducted in-depth interviews with Commonwealth Biotechnology customers last Fall. Here are excerpts from that conversation. |
Kelly, can you hit the highlights? What did you find in your survey?
We found that CBI is held in very high regard, but not only for the tests and procedures they can run. What clients really value is their ability to develop great solutions to their needs, particularly in respect to early-stage research.
Early stage research is not about doing a mass of simple procedures over and over to validate a result - there are other, bigger companies that are set up better to do that more efficiently than CBI. It's about trying one thing, and maybe that doesn't work, and finding something else, and working through very difficult research situations to get the outcome you're looking for. More.
Research Notes
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Mass Spectometry
by Robert B. Harris, Ph.D. |
Q TOF Mass Spectrometry
CBI has made an important addition to its mass spec inventory, a new Q TOF mass spectrometer. This instrument, which can operate either with or without a front-end HPLC in either electrospray or nanospray modes, expands CBI's proteomics capabilities, its small molecule analysis capabilities, and its sequence analysis capabilities by mass spec methods. The Q TOF has found immediate use in CBI's government contracts, and has facilitated proteomic comparisons of different select agent pathogens. More.
Whole Cell Analysis by Mass Spectrometry
In another application of mass spectrometry, CBI scientists have implemented methods by which a "molecular mass spec fingerprint" is prepared from viable whole cells, and in particular, from select agent pathogens. More.
The Reynolds Brain Wracker
Think you're as smart as Tom Reynolds? Let's see if you can complete his "Forensic Science" crossword puzzle. Fax in the correct solution to (804) 648-2641. The first 10 win a free 256mb USB drive!
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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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Company Profile
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Investor Relations
CBI Reports Record Revenues and Profitability Breakthrough! Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc (CBI) posted record revenues of approximately $7.80 million for fiscal year 2005, as compared to $5.75 million in 2004, which represents 35.7% revenue growth over 2004. CBI also posted its first ever year-end profit of $79,123, which compares to a loss of $367,549 in 2004. 2005 is the first fiscal year since its initial public offering in 1997, that the Company has returned positive earnings per share. These earnings were $0.02 calculated on a primary and fully diluted basis. More.
CBI goes Global! On December 5, 2005, CBI and Intertek ASG of Manchester, England announced the signing of a Broad Teaming Agreement to co-market their respective services to the life sciences industry. More.
CBI Partners with the Center for Functional Gen- omics. On Dec. 6, 2005, CBI and the Center for Functional Genomics (CFG) At SUNY, Albany, signed a Teaming Agreement to co-market their respective technol- ogies and services. Under this agreement, CBI gains access to several very high-end technologies and an expanded capacity in other areas. In return, CFG now has access to a GLP facility, including a CDC- registered Biosafety Level 3 laboratory. More.
CBI Licenses its HepArrest IP. On January 5, 2006 CBI announced that it has entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Prism Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop, manufacture and commercialize CBI's helix-based peptide technologies. Conceived, developed and patented by CBI, this series of compounds is currently under investigation for the treatment of acute care cardiovascular indications. More.
CBI Expands its DNA Forensics Offerings. In December of 2004, CBI completed the acquisition of Fairfax Identity Labs (FIL) of Fairfax, VA. More.
Current Filings
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Contact
Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc.
601 Biotech Drive
Richmond, VA 23235
Telephone
Toll Free: 800-RELY-CBI (800-735-9224)
Telephone: (804) 648-3820
Fax: (804) 648-2641
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