PRESS RELEASE
Published on January 22, 2001
Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Ballas
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(804) 754-2714
ballas1@erols.com
COMMONWEALTH BIOTECHNOLOGIES, INC. ANNOUNCES ELECTION OF NEW DIRECTORS.
RICHMOND, VA (January 22, 2001) - Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ
small cap exchange: CBTE) today announced the election of three new members to
its Board of Directors. The company also announced that former-governor, now
Senator George Allen of Virginia has resigned his seat on the Board.
The newly elected members of the Board are Mr. Everette G. ("Buddy") Allen, Jr.,
Chairman and senior partner in the law firm of Hirschler, Fleischer, Weinberg,
Cox and Allen, PC, in Richmond,VA; Dr. Donald McAfee, Chairman and Chief
Technical Officer of Discovery Therapeutics, Inc., Richmond, VA; and Mr. Samuel
P. Sears, Jr., a nationally recognized attorney who specializes in management
and negotiation of mergers and acquisitions.
"We are very pleased to have been able to attract such high quality new members
to the Board. They will each bring a unique perspective which, I believe,
complements the continuing employee and non-employee members of the Board," said
Richard J. Freer, Ph.D., Chairman of CBI.
They will join the continuing Non-employee Board Members, Dr. Raymond Cypess,
President and CEO of ATCC, Inc., Manassas, VA, and Mr. L. McCarthy Downs, III,
Chairman, Anderson and Strudwick, Inc, Richmond, VA, and the three Employee
Board Members, Dr. Richard J. Freer, Chairman, Dr. Robert B. Harris, President,
and Mr. Thomas R. Reynolds, Senior Vice President.
Commenting on the resignation of Senator Allen, Freer said, "Due to his new
responsibilities, Senator Allen would have a conflict of interest were he to
continue to serve on the Board. His insights and positive support will be
sorely missed. We, of course, wish him much success in Washington and look
forward to his pro-business agenda reaping benefits for CBI, the Commonwealth,
and the Nation."
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. 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.