On behalf of the current and proposed board of Directors of your company, I am delighted to offer you this opportunity to invest in VosTech Limited (VosTech or Company) and participate in the future potential of the Company's new biotechnology acquisitions.
Subject to approval by the Company's shareholders at the General Meeting being convened on 12 August 2002, VosTech will make offers to acquire 100% of the capital of Brightsun, an animal biotechnology company.
Brightsun is focussing on the research, development and commercialisation of biological solutions for both companion and production animals. The aim of these biological solutions is to improve the health and welfare of animals, increase productivity at an economical cost, and reduce the use of chemicals and drugs, particularly antibiotics, in production animals.
Increasing awareness of the influence of chemical and antibiotic residues on human health, animal health and the human food chain, and the emergence of drug and chemical resistance, dictates that more acceptable alternative solutions to animal healthcare problems are developed to reduce the widespread and often detrimental use of these chemicals and drugs.
The use of certain antibiotics in food producing animals is already subject to regulation, with some additives prohibited in certain countries reflecting the acknowledgment of the role of residues from meat or poultry meat in the development of antibiotic resistance in bacterial diseases of humans, or the so-called "superbugs".
The initial projects that Brightsun has identified are the result of years of dedicated research by the research teams at both the Livestock Industries division at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at Murdoch University.
The initial production animal solutions are targeting the pig and poultry health products markets world-wide which are estimated to be in excess of US$8 billion per annum. These solutions comprise a vaccine delivery system, specific vaccines targeting commercially important diseases and biotherapeutics and productivity enhancers that aim to replace the current antibiotic usage.
The initial companion animal solution under development is for an efficient and biological flea control vaccine. The current companion animal flea control product global market is estimated at US$2 billion per annum, the dominant products being either chemically based or having low rates of efficacy.
The production animal solutions are at an advanced stage of development with a number of key patents granted in the USA and other developed countries, with others under application. Milestone based commercial understandings with major veterinary pharmaceutical companies have been reached, although not executed, for the evaluation and development of certain products in specific geographic areas.
The acquisition of Brightsun provides access to these well established biotechnology projects. These projects aim to improve disease or parasite control in animals and poultry, reduce the use of harmful chemicals and drugs, and reduce the level of chemical and antibiotic residue entering the human food chain. The potential and existing markets for these products is large, with the opportunity for these new products to replace existing products and create new markets. The products are all biologically based.
The capital raised pursuant to the Offers contained within this Prospectus will be utilised in furthering the Company's development of its existing technology and the biotechnology investments to be acquired as a result of the Brightsun transactions.