Company Profile

Commitment to Quality

Peptides International has a long history of providing quality products documented by detailed descriptions and analytical specifications. As a research-based company, we know first hand how important the quality of a scientist's reactants are to the success of his or her research. The company also recognizes the importance of quality throughout its operations and has engaged in an extensive effort that will harmonize its internally-developed systems with those necessary for external certification. Customer audits of our quality systems and facilities are welcome.

Facilities and Location

Technical and commercial activities are housed in a newly expanded and renovated facility in the Bluegrass Industrial Park, which is just east of metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky. With its central US location and close proximity to both United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (FedEx), products from Peptides can easily be shipped overnight to destinations around the world.

Sales and Distribution Channels

While direct sales via telephone, fax, or this website are preferred for many countries, Peptides International encourages sales in the following countries to utilize the in-country services of the following distributors:

People and Organization

The company is privately owned with Jacqulyn Spatola as principal shareholder and chair of the Board. Members of the Board, in addition to Ms. Spatola and Dr. Johnson, include four highly qualified individuals with extensive expertise in the medical sciences, business management, finance, and sales and marketing.

Bryce V. Johnson, Ph.D. - Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bryce V. Johnson served as President / CEO of Peptides International beginning in early 2005 and since January 1, 2012 as CEO. Dr. Johnson is originally from Minnesota and has a Ph.D. in chemistry from Yale University and an MBA in marketing from the University of Chicago. He was a colleague of Dr. Spatola in the chemistry department of the University of Louisville, after which he pursued a career in research management at Amoco Chemicals in Naperville, Illinois and subsequently the 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1990, Dr. Johnson expanded his career into business management and prior to accepting the position at Peptides International was a Vice President of Dyneon LLC, a $500 MM wholly owned subsidiary of 3M. In addition to authoring numerous technical papers and patents, he has spent considerable time developing and growing new businesses and managing large global organizations. Dr. Johnson also shares responsibility for the financial management of the company with Ms. Spatola.

Michael W. Pennington, Ph.D. - , President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Technical Officer
Dr. Michael Pennington joined Peptides International in December 2010 serving as Chief Technology Officer. On, January 1, 2012, Dr. Pennington's role expanded to that of President and Chief Operating Officer. After doctoral research at University of Florida, he joined the pharmaceutical industry in the Department of Biotechnology at Schering-Plough. He joined Bachem Bioscience in King of Prussia, PA as a Principle Scientist in the Peptide Chemistry department. He served as the Group Director for Bachem Bioscience before being appointed as President and C.O.O. a positioned he maintained from 2000 – 2010. He built and directed an internationally recognized peptide chemistry team focused on producing complex peptides and toxins. Dr. Pennington was a member of Bachem Forschungausschuss, the International Research and Development from 2000 – 2010. He has extensive collaborations with both industrial and academic scientists and maintains an extramurally funded research program on several peptide toxins. He is a founder of Airmid Inc, a biotech venture company dedicated to advancing two of his discoveries into clinical development for autoimmune diseases. Dr. Pennington has been awarded four patents and over 85 peer reviewed scientific articles, and serves as an editor of International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics and Current Peptide and Protein Letters. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Ph.D. from University of Florida at Gainesville.

Channa Basava, Ph.D. - Vice President of Sales
Dr. Channa Basava joined Peptides International in 2009, appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Basava received his Ph.D. in peptide chemistry and biology from Bangalore University, India, and carried out postdoctoral research in the laboratories of Prof. John M. Stewart under a NIH fellowship. Integrating chemical and biological information to aid in the discovery of novel molecules has been a primary theme of Dr. Basava’s research throughout his career. He is the author of numerous patents and publications in the areas of anti-osteoporosis, antiviral, anti-infective, and anticancer agents. In the peptide field his work includes analogs of calcitonin, human fibrinopeptide A, LHRH, FAS ligands, large-scale manufacturing methods and managing GMP operations. He is also an entrepreneur who founded two successful biotechnology companies and has held executive positions in a number of leading peptide companies.

Patricia Y. Coxon, Ph.D. - Quality Assurance Manager
Dr. Patricia Coxon has been with Peptides International since 2005. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology/Immunology in 1997 from the University of Louisville where she studied pathogenesis and bacteria-cell interactions. In 2002 she completed her post-doctoral studies in biochemical signaling in Dr. McKleish’s lab where she was awarded a grant to study the role of MAPK signaling in neutrophil activation and function. Prior to joining Peptides International, Patricia was employed at Environmental Consultants Technologies where she was played a vital role in regulatory and laboratory compliance. Initially at Peptides International, Dr. Coxon’s responsibilities were to provide technical and product support, work closely with the sales and marketing department in the development of technical literature and information, as well as provide assistance for quality assurance. Since 2007, she has taken on the role of quality assurance manager for company to ensure the highest quality and standards as outlined in ISO9001.

Jacqulyn B. Spatola - Chair of the Board
Ms. Jackie B. Spatola is a key member of the management team with responsibility for order processing, administrative, and accounting functions. A native of Tennessee, Ms. Spatola has been with Peptides International since 1990. Prior to that, she had 13 years of experience with General Motors, two of which were spent in Detroit. Positions she held at General Motors included area marketing manager and manager of the customer service department. Ms. Spatola also served as President and CEO of Peptides International following the death of her husband in 2003 and assembled a Board of Directors to advise her on company matters and in the recruitment of an outside CEO. She is the majority shareholder of the company and remains chair of the Board of Directors.



Biography of Dr. Arno F. Spatola, Founder of Peptides International

While at the University of Louisville Professor Spatola became an internationally recognized peptide chemistry researcher. During his academic tenure, his major research interests included biologically active peptides, pseudopeptides, cyclic peptides, and cyclic peptide libraries. He originated the (psi) pseudopeptide nomenclature, formally adopted by IUPAC. Notable contributions include Dr. Spatola's development of backbone-modified peptides (including CH2S, CH2SO, CH2NH, and CSNH), matrix metalloprotease (MMP) inhibitors, ammonium formate catalytic transfer hydrogenation (AFCTH), and cyclic peptide libraries. Dr. Spatola authored over 140 papers and six patents during the course of his research. In 1982 and in 1990, Dr. Spatola served as a visiting professor at the University of Padova, Italy.

In 1996, Dr. Spatola founded and served as Executive Director of the University of Louisville's Institute for Molecular Diversity and Drug Design (IMD3), a multidisciplinary research and training program focusing on drug design and discovery. Dr. Spatola was a founding member of the American Peptide Society, a member of the American Chemical Society, and served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Peptide Research and Letters in Peptide Science. He was an ad hoc reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and a co-chairman of the 1990 Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry and Biology of Peptides.

In 1983, Dr Spatola founded Peptides International as an outgrowth of his research interests. Under his guidance, it has developed into the company it is today. In the words of Sir Isaac Newton, often reiterated by Arno, "if we have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Peptides International proudly remembers Arno F. Spatola for his contributions to peptide research and to the Company. We thank him for allowing us to stand on his shoulders and challenging all of us to go even further than we can ever hope to see.