Pressure BioSciences, Inc. Announces the Award of Its Second NIH Small Business Innovation Research Grant in the Past Five Months
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., March 9, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:PBIO) today announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Grant will help fund experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of using the Company's patented Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) in the development of a novel, automated sample preparation procedure for the extraction and subsequent purification of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) from a variety of biological samples in a single processing step. It is expected that this procedure will use the Company's currently available Barocycler instrument, with minor modifications, and will also involve the development of new disposable processing containers and reagents.
The SBIR Grant is for a total of $150,000, is effective immediately, and covers grant-related research expenses over the next six months. If successful, at the end of the study, the Company expects to submit a request for follow-on, SBIR Phase II Grant funding.
The Company estimates that there are approximately 200,000 scientists worldwide whose research currently requires the preparation and analysis of nucleic acids, research that is crucial to the development of new and improved diagnostics and therapeutics. To this end, the analysis of DNA and RNA typically begins with the extraction of the biomolecule from the cell followed by its subsequent purification, usually a multi-step process. Therefore, any technique that combines nucleic acid extraction with subsequent purification in fewer steps, ideally a single step, offers the potential for more rapid and efficient analysis of nucleic acids. This in turn could accelerate both basic and applied biological research, and lead to the development of new products for the improvement of public health.
Feng Tao, Ph.D., Principal Scientist at PBI and Principal Investigator of the SBIR project said: "The current PCT Sample Preparation System (PCT SPS) was designed to assist scientists in the extraction of nucleic acids (as well as proteins and small molecules) from a variety of specimens. Once extracted, a number of commercially available products can be used to purify the extracted biomaterials for analysis. The goal of this study is to develop a novel PCT-based sample preparation procedure that combines both nucleic acid extraction and purification in a single step. If successful, this study could lead to a new generation of PCT-based products that we believe could augment our large potential market by opening the door to additional researchers who are interested in combining automated nucleic acid extraction and purification in a single, seamless, streamlined step. It could also help ensure additional business from existing and future users of the PCT SPS, since they will be able to use the Barocycler instrument and accompanying disposables for both extraction and purification."
Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, President, and CEO of Pressure BioSciences, Inc. said: "We are very pleased that the NIH has chosen to support this exciting project under its SBIR program, as it will cover certain research expenses that were already part of our 2007 plan. Additionally, we view the award of our second PCT-based SBIR Phase I Grant in the past five months as further validation of the potential that PCT offers to the important area of sample preparation."
About Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (PBI) is a publicly traded, early-stage company focused on the development 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 5 foreign patents covering multiple applications of PCT in the life sciences field, including such areas as genomic and proteomic sample preparation, pathogen inactivation, the control of enzymes, 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 feasibility of using the Company's PCT technology in the development of a novel method for combining both the extraction and purification of nucleic acids in a single processing step, the number of scientists who prepare and analyze nucleic acids, the size of the potential market for the PCT SPS, the expectation that the study funded by the SBIR Grant could lead to a new generation of PCT-based products, and that the study could lead to additional business from existing or future users of the PCT SPS. 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 and the PCT SPS, the possibility that the Company's study may not demonstrate the successful use of PCT in the single-step extraction and purification of nucleic acids from cells, the possibility that the Company's PCT technology and the PCT SPS may not be accepted by the commercial market as a needed improvement over current extraction methods, the possibility that the Company may choose not to submit an application for Phase II SBIR funding at the end of the current SBIR Phase I funding period or that if the Company does submit such an application, that the NIH may not award the Company a Phase II SBIR Grant, and the other risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended September 30, 2006, in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2005, 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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CONTACT: Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Investor Contacts:
Richard T. Schumacher, President & CEO
Edward H. Myles, Sr. Vice President of Finance & CFO
(508) 580-1818
Released March 9, 2007