To Our Shareholders,
It has been sometime since I have had the chance to communicate with you directly and I welcome the opportunity to share with you some exciting new developments in your Company.
Perhaps the most exciting recent news is our licensing agreement with Harvard University covering a diagnostic test devised at Dr. Halperin’s Laboratory for Translational Research (LTR) at Harvard Medical School to target early identification of the population at risk of developing vascular diabetic complications. I have had the privilege of knowing Dr. Halperin for many years and am pleased that our Company is working with him and his excellent laboratory team.
The statistics on diabetes and its complications are alarming. Obesity, one of the more strongly linked causative agents for the onset of diabetes, is accelerating at a rapid rate in our country and across the globe. In fact, healthcare economists are predicting a record increase in healthcare costs linked to diabetes. For information on the financial and personal cost of these disease, I recommend you read the article from the New York Times, Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis, by N.R. Kleinfield, 1/9/2006. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9907E2DA1F30F93AA35752C0A9609C8B63
According to the National Heart Lung and Kidney Institute of Health, treatment of diabetic complications consumes 10-15% of our nation’s annual over-all healthcare budget. Diabetes is the leading cause of renal transplants, blindness and leg amputations in the adult population and major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. As juvenile obesity rises, the number of children afflicted with diabetic type disorders also increases.
Dr. Halperin’s research team has discovered that CD59, a protein that regulates the complement system, is found in a characteristically modified form in plasma and urine of diabetic patients. We hope to advance this technology, coupled with our genetic ancestry work, into a clinical test for the early detection of diabetic complications. We believe that a test based on CD-59 can help doctors early enough to permit meaningful treatment for patients. Early treatment may also permit lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise resulting in potentially improved health and quality of life for the patient. Long term, we would like to develop therapeutics screened against a validated and approved set of human markers. These types of therapies may help delay or treat the devastating consequences of diabetes and its complications.
DNAPrint’s employees, scientists and management appreciate your support and will work diligently to earn your continued support for the future.
Richard Gabriel,
CEO and President
Company Contact:
Richard Gabriel
CEO and President
941 366-3400
-or-
Ron Stabiner
The Wall Street Group, Inc.
212-888-4848