University of Louisville Researcher Wins CLAS Award for PCT Work
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBII) today announced that BBI was informed by the National Office of The Clinical Ligand Assay Society (CLAS) that Mr. D. Alan Kerr II won the Best Abstract Award at the 29th National Meeting (May 7- 10, 2003) of CLAS for his work with Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT). The title of Mr. Kerr's abstract and poster is Pressure Cycling Technology and Its Application in Steroid Receptor Extraction. The research was conducted by Mr. Kerr, a Research Associate under the direction of Dr. James L. Wittliff, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville, a beta site for BBI's Barocycler(R) instrument. Mr. Kerr's abstract describes using PCT as a means of extracting estrogen and progestin receptor proteins from lyophilized reference specimens used in proficiency testing. Preliminary results show that the PCT method and conditions may be optimized to extract labile regulatory proteins of clinical importance, such as sex hormone receptors.
"We are very pleased that important new applications for our Pressure Cycling Technology Sample Processing System (SPS) are being reported by our beta sites," said Mr. Kevin Quinlan, President, Boston Biomedica, Inc. Mr. Quinlan went on to say that, "We are proud that a prestigious scientific organization like CLAS recognized the value of the work being done with PCT in Dr. Wittliff's laboratory."
The PCT SPS includes the Company's patented PCT technology, its proprietary Barocycler instrument, and its PULSE(R) Tubes. The system is based on a unique combination of pressure and temperature applied in BBI's instrument to efficiently release cellular contents from a wide variety of biological samples in significantly less time than required by standard laboratory techniques. The PCT SPS offers potentially important advantages for proteomics and genomics, including research and industrial applications in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and biotechnology, as well as for clinical diagnostics applications, such as in cancer and infectious diseases testing.
Dr. Nathan Lawrence, Director of PCT, said, "BBI scientists are continuing to develop new applications in tissue processing for PCT in our laboratories at BBI Biotech. However, as we had anticipated, some of the most important discoveries and applications are coming from work with other scientists who have purchased PCT Sample Processing Systems, used our sample processing service, or acted as our beta sites. The methods under development in Dr. Wittliff's laboratory are a new application for PCT with potential uses in environmental monitoring of estrogen mimics that may be endocrine disrupter compounds that could cause serious reproductive damage and contribute to cancer."
Boston Biomedica, Inc. provides products and services to the diagnostics and life sciences industries to evaluate, monitor, and ensure the quality of infectious disease test results, to improve the preparation of specimens for genomic/proteomic testing, and to safely store and retrieve rare and valuable biological specimens. We also manufacture biological reagents used in test kits and provide a broad range of routine and esoteric research services to governments and industry. BBI operates in three states, and conducts research in new applications for our patented Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT). In 2000, we launched Panacos Pharmaceuticals, and the Company maintains a significant passive investment in this novel antiviral drug development company.
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are "forward-looking" statements. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those projected include the possibility that due to difficulties in the implementation of its strategies, Boston Biomedica may not be successful in selling its PCT Sample Preparation System, or in further developing Pressure Cycling Technology into commercially viable products and services, or such activities may take longer than currently expected. In addition, because of advances in technology for other methods for sequencing nucleic acids or proteins, PCT may not become a cost-effective method for determining the sequences of biomolecules; that Pressure Cycling Technology may not be adaptable to any other commercially viable applications; that certain pressure cycling applications may not fall within the claims of the Company's nine issued U.S. and two issued European patents; and that individuals and groups utilizing such PCT procedures may not be required to license such technology from BBI. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002, and the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2003. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
