Issue 1  /  April 21, 2004

	CAB Leads Colorado Academic Bioengineering Initiative/ Fellowship Announcement (continued) CAB, founded in 1998 by faculty members at the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, The Colorado School of Mines, and the University of Denver, is Colorado's leading bioengineering research and educational consortium. Rahmat Shoureshi, PhD, Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Denver is the founder and President of the CAB Board of Directors and Arlen D. Meyers, MD, MBA, Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, is the Executive Director of CAB. As part of CAB's mission to provide bioengineering and bioentrepreneurship education, the United Kingdom will be sponsoring an International Bioentrepreneurship Fellow, scheduled to arrive in Denver, Colorado later this summer. The program is designed to familiarize the fellow with the basics of bioentrepreneurship under the direct tutelage of experienced bioentrepreneurs in the Colorado biocluster. By spending four months with several preceptors, the fellow will get hands on experience in building a life science company and be exposed to finance, regulatory affairs and reimbursement, patent law and intellectual property. In addition, the fellow will be attending courses in entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Business School Bard Center for Entrepreneurship Development in Denver. The CAB International Bioentrepreneurship Fellowship Program is designed to promote international biotechnology research and industry collaborations.
	Fusion Antibodies: Success in Denver: Major Partnerships Clinched (continued) "We are involved in some lucrative partnerships with Colorado entities that we found through the NITDC Denver," said Jim Johnston, Ph.D., CEO of Fusion Antibodies, a Queens University Belfast spin out company. Sales of Fusion custom antibodies have grown through a Denver company, enabling Fusion to access US markets. Several other partnerships have been created in order to conduct grant-funded research and have resulted in the development of a joint venture. These companies have a great deal of synergy with Fusion and have developed successful collaborations Fusion produces custom antibodies and therapeutic gene products and conducts research. According to Prof. Johnston, "(Fusion's) technology can rapidly and cheaply enhance drug discovery programmes by reducing the time it takes to produce and purify proteins from 6 months to 3 weeks." Their patented, high throughput technologies have revolutionized the way antigens and antibodies are designed and produced. Fusion Antibodies' main clients are research institutions from around the world, bio-technology companies and pharmaceutical companies. Fusion's know-how helps them to accelerate their research programs in areas such as diagnostics and drug discovery. Fusion Antibodies provides a comprehensive service to clients that can evaluate, test trial and produce milligram to gram quantities of purified recombinant protein. It does this using its patented and award-winning high-throughput technology. This platform has revolutionized the way antigens and antibodies are designed and produced. Fusion's patented process, unique product and services have given them an excellent reputation in the Colorado Bioscience sector. "Whenever Fusion visits the NITDC Denver, we have so many companies eager to meet with them that we scramble to fit the appointments in, so we only see Fusion's business growing in the Western US ," comments Peggy McMahon, Director, NITDC Denver. Fusion's success has increased employment in Belfast: since 2002, Fusion has grown from 12 employees to an expected 30 employees by 2005. Much of its increase in employment and turnover is due to deals made in Denver. "Our business in the US will grow due to the Denver deals," said Professor Jim Johnston "When we visited Denver," said Fusion's Paul Kerr, Ph.D., "we discovered an open, welcoming business community enthusiastic about working with us. They gave us an entrée to the Colorado bio cluster, the fastest growing bio cluster in the US." This view is seconded by another Fusion visitor to Denver, Richard Buick, Senior Research Scientist, who concludes "We have found our business opportunities have grown rapidly from visiting the NITDC Denver."
	Colorado TB researcher David Cohn, MD: looking around the world for answers (continued) Along with his colleagues, Drs. Randall Reeves and William Burman, Dr. Cohn does epidemiologic and clinical research on TB and is a co-investigator in the CDC-sponsored TB Epidemiologic Studies Consortium (TBESC) and TB Trials Consortium (TBTC). Cohn has also been a medical officer and consultant with the Global Tuberculosis Program at WHO. Basic research in TB is done out of Colorado State University and includes tuberculosis vaccine testing under a $3mm grant from the National Institutes of Health; other research on the basic immunology of tuberculosis, drug resistant strains, examining proteins in early stage TB infection/ in regulating the bacteria's growth; and molecular genetics of mycobacteria. Cohn notes that major advances have occurred in the understanding of the epidemiology and transmission of TB through the use of DNA fingerprinting over the past decade. However, the molecular revolution has not yet made a significant impact on TB diagnosis and treatment. Smear and culture remain the gold standard for diagnosis. "PCR based techniques have been a disappointment and there is a tremendous market for molecular diagnostics", says Cohn. In particular, a valid, more sensitive test for active disease, latent TB infection, and difficult to diagnose complications like TB meningitis is high on his wish list. "Perhaps with the recent identification of the entire genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, more breakthroughs are on the way", he also mused. With the additional active TB, AIDS, and pulmonary research programs at the University of Colorado and the National Jewish Center for Allergy and Immunology, Colorado is one of the leading pulmonary and infectious diseases research centers in the United States and a ripe source for research and clinical collaboration.