FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Investor
Contacts:
Richard
T. Schumacher, President & CEO
|
Pressure
BioSciences, Inc.
|
R.
Wayne Fritzsche, Chairman
|
(508)
230-1828 (T)
|
Pressure
BioSciences, Inc. Announces Completion of Private Placement
South
Easton, MA, February 18, 2009 – Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBIO) (“PBI”
or the “Company”) today announced that it has received $1.8 million from the
sale of 156,980 units in a private placement that closed on Thursday, February
12, 2009. Each unit was priced at $11.50 and consists of (i) one
share of non-voting Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, (ii) a warrant to
purchase, at the purchaser’s election, either 10 shares of the Company’s common
stock at $1.25 per share, or one share of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock
at $12.50 per share, expiring 15 months from the closing, and (iii) a warrant to
purchase 10 shares of the Company’s common stock at $2.00 per share, expiring 30
months from the closing. Each share of Series A Convertible Preferred
Stock is convertible into 10 shares of common stock at a conversion price of
$1.15 per common share. The 30-day average closing price of PBI shares of common
stock as reported on the NASDAQ Capital Market as of the close of business on
Wednesday, February 11, 2009, the day before the closing of the private
placement, was $0.82 per share. The units were issued in a
private placement without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the “Securities Act”), in reliance upon the exemption from registration
set forth in Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities
Act.
In
connection with the private placement, prior to the closing, the Company
received $200,000 from one of its distributors to be held in the private
placement escrow account. The distributor requested, and the Company
agreed, that the $200,000 be used as payment for anticipated future purchases of
the Company’s pressure cycling technology (PCT) instrument and consumables
products, and not for an investment in the private placement.
Mr.
Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO, commented: “We believe that we now
have the financial resources to continue to aggressively address our clearly
stated business goals throughout all of 2009, and into
mid-2010. These goals include (i) a sharpened focus on the large mass
spectrometry market where our collaborators and customers continue to publish
and present data that support the significant competitive advantages of PCT, and
(ii) a sales effort focused on additional but specific PCT product areas where
market penetration and customer purchases have begun, primarily in biomarker
discovery, soil and plant biology, counter-bioterror applications, and tissue
pathology.”
Mr. R.
Wayne Fritzsche, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PBI, commented: “We want
to thank the investors who participated in this financing, including all of the
Company’s officers and a majority of the members of the Board of
Directors. We believe that the combination of funds received,
cash-on-hand, and on-going sales of PCT instruments and consumables, will be
sufficient to support our continuing operations through the second quarter of
2010. We further believe that this is sufficient time to make
measureable progress on our very focused and specific business
goals.”
About
Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Pressure
BioSciences, Inc. (PBI) is a publicly traded 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 6 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 chemical (enzymatic) reactions, immunodiagnostics, and protein
purification. PBI currently focuses its efforts in the areas of mass
spectrometry and biological sample preparation.
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. Forward looking statements include statements regarding the sufficiency of
the Company’s cash resources to fund its planned operations through the second
quarter of 2010, the Company’s ability to achieve its business goals, the effect
of the Company’s decision to focus primarily on the application of PCT-enhanced
protein digestion for the mass spectrometry market and the advantages of PCT in
this market, and the use of PCT in biomarker discovery, soil and plant biology,
counter-bioterror, and tissue pathology applications. 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: possible difficulties or delays in the
implementation of the Company's strategies that may adversely affect the
Company's continued commercialization of its PCT System; changes in customer’s
needs and technological innovations; the Company’s sales force may not be
successful in selling the Company’s PCT product line because scientists may not
perceive the advantages of PCT over other sample preparation methods,
particularly in the mass spectrometry market; scientists may not be able to
duplicate the results achieved at particular laboratories having already used
PCT; and if actual operating costs are higher than anticipated, or revenues from
product sales are less than anticipated, the Company will need additional
capital sooner than the second quarter of 2010. Further, the Company
expects that it will need additional capital to fund its continuing operations
beyond the second quarter of 2010. Additional risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by these
forward-looking statements are 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.
Visit us
at our website http://www.pressurebiosciences.com