Pressure BioSciences, Inc. and the J. Craig Venter Institute Announce Collaboration Agreement & Purchase of a PCT System
A Global Biopharmaceutical Company Purchases Two PCT Systems to Help in the Analysis of Therapeutic Proteins
SOUTH EASTON, Mass., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBIO) ("PBI") today announced that they have entered into a collaboration with the J. Craig Venter Institute ("JCVI"), a not for profit genomic research institute, with facilities in Rockville, MD and La Jolla, CA. As part of the collaboration, the JCVI has purchased a Barocycler NEP2320 PCT Sample Preparation System ("PCT System"). The Company also announced that it has sold two Barocycler NEP3229 PCT Sample Preparation Systems to a leading global biopharmaceutical company. The PCT Systems were installed at two of the customer's locations during the week of December 8, 2008.
JCVI Collaboration
JCVI will be using PBI's pressure cycling technology (PCT) and sample preparation platform as part of the collaboration. To that end, JCVI has purchased a Barocycler NEP2320 PCT Sample Preparation System, and intends to further develop PCT into JCVI's extraction protocols. In addition to this purchase, PBI will provide JCVI with two additional instruments for further studies as part of the collaboration. Among the projects for which PBI's technology will be used is JCVI's National Institutes of Health ("NIH")-funded human microbiome project, where JCVI scientists are discovering and cataloging the microbes that live on and in the human body.
According to Scott Peterson, Ph.D., Director of Functional Genomics Research and Technology at JCVI: "PBI's PCT technology is an exciting tool for extracting nucleic acids and proteins from challenging biological samples like those associated with our human microbiome project. The PCT System has the unique ability to extract higher molecular weight DNA for further sequence analysis of the organisms we work with here at JCVI. It is always satisfying when a simple solution presents itself to address a complex problem. PBI's PCT technology represents one of those solutions."
Mr. Matthew Potter, Vice President of Sales for Pressure BioSciences, Inc., said, "We are excited that the J. Craig Venter Institute, with their purchase of a PCT System, has recognized the potential of PCT to improve the extraction of proteins and nucleic acids from biological samples, a key step in laboratory research. We are also pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with the JCVI in their microbiome project. The NIH has recently initiated the Human Microbiome Project with the mission to comprehensively characterize microbes that live on and in the human body, and to analyze their role in human health and disease. This is a very important NIH-funded project, and we are pleased that PCT will play a role in the program."
Sale of Two PCT Systems to a Global Biopharmaceutical Company
Recent data presented by independent scientists at the FACSS (Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies) annual meeting held September 29-October 2, 2008 demonstrated that pressure cycling technology (PCT) provided the most efficient method available for digesting protein therapeutics without introducing protein modifications. A leading global biopharmaceutical company, a current customer of PBI, has now purchased two PCT Sample Preparation Systems to continue studies as part of their process development, including improved throughput, product characterization, and method development applications. Additionally, this global biopharmaceutical company is undertaking a multi-functional, cross-site initiative to evaluate other applications of PCT as a potential platform technology.
Mr. Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO of Pressure BioSciences, Inc., commented: "We are very pleased that this large, global biopharmaceutical company has purchased two PCT Systems for accelerated and accurate digestion of therapeutic proteins, one of PBI's major product initiatives. We believe that this application may lead to better quality control in the manufacturing of therapeutic proteins. As such, we will continue to work with customers and collaborators to help drive the adoption of PCT as a method of choice to aid in the analysis of proteins for therapeutics. Ultimately, we believe that these and other studies will lead to additional PCT System sales to companies manufacturing protein-based therapeutics, and to multiple sales within the same organization."
About Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (PBI) is a publicly-traded company focused on the development and commercialization of a novel, enabling technology called pressure cycling technology (PCT). PCT uses cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels (up to 35,000 psi and greater) to control bio-molecular interactions. PBI currently holds 13 US and 6 foreign patents covering multiple applications of PCT in the life sciences field, including in such areas as genomic and proteomic sample preparation, pathogen inactivation, the control of chemical (primarily enzymatic) reactions, immunodiagnostics, and protein purification.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding the Company's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, or predictions of the future are "forward-looking'' statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward looking statements include statements regarding the further development of PCT into JCVI's extraction protocols; PCT as a simple solution for the extraction of nucleic acids and proteins from challenging biological samples; the expected advantages of the Company's PCT Sample Preparation System (PCT SPS) to potentially improve the process development of therapeutic proteins, including throughput, product characterization, and method development; to digest protein therapeutics without introducing protein modifications; the continued use of the PCT SPS by the global biopharmaceutical company and its evaluation of other applications of PCT as a potential platform technology; the advantages of PCT SPS over competitive processes; that PCT may lead to better quality control in the manufacturing of proteins for therapeutics; and that PBI will be able to sell additional PCT Systems to companies manufacturing protein-based therapeutics, sell multiple instruments within the same organization, and to standardize analytical methods across laboratories and production facilities generally. These statements are based upon the Company's current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not limited to: unforeseen technological difficulties that the Company may encounter in the development of the PCT technology or that JVCI, the global biopharmaceutical company, or other customers of the Company may encounter in their use of the PCT SPS; due to such unforeseen technical difficulties, or marketing, sales and distribution difficulties, the PCT SPS may not be adopted by the scientific community as an accepted method of extraction; due to the Company's limited financial resources, if the Company is unable to secure financing, it will be forced to substantially curtail its planned operations which will limit the Company's ability to achieve market acceptance and penetration and its ability to become profitable; and the other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and other reports filed by the Company from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the information included in this release, except as otherwise required by law.
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http://www.pressurebiosciences.com
Investor Contacts:
Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO (508) 230-1828 (T)
Wayne Fritzsche, Chairman of the Board (508) 230-1829 (F)
SOURCE Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Released December 17, 2008