Genomics To Become Third Area of Focus
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued BBI a patent covering the use of its Pressure Cycling Technology ("PCT") to control the rates of chemical and biochemical reactions, as well as the instrumentation designed to carry out the PCT process. The newly issued patent covers the use of PCT to reversibly and repeatedly control basic bioprocesses through cycles of varied pressure. This allows for the precise regulation of enzymatic activity for the modification or digestion of nucleic acids without the use of complex chemicals and steps. This is the first issued patent in a series of applications filed over the past few years on the multiple aspects of Boston Biomedica's proprietary PCT platform.
The Company has been exploring the potential commercial applications and establishing the infrastructure required to take full advantage of opportunities for implementation of PCT since it acquired the technology from BioSeq, Inc. in late 1998. At that time, the potential applications identified by the Company included the use of PCT for inactivation of pathogens in human plasma, sample preparation for nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) testing, elimination of microbial contaminants in food, improvement in immunodiagnostic tests (faster, more accurate), pre-treatment of clinical samples to protect laboratory workers, and various applications in genomics - such as nucleic acid sequence analysis. Based upon an assessment of its then current financial, technical and logistical capabilities, the Company decided to initially focus on two of these potential areas: pathogen inactivation and nucleic acid sample preparation.
"In recent months, we have seen growing confidence in, and support of, our research and development efforts in PCT for inactivating pathogens in plasma, as indicated by our partnership with the Consortium for Plasma Science, and by our collaboration with scientists in both academia and industry in the area of using PCT for extracting nucleic acids from cells," said Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Boston Biomedica. "This patent is a further indication of the novelty and promise of PCT. We are especially pleased that our first issued PCT patent covers the control of enzymes, including exonucleases, because it opens up for our Company yet another potential application for this technology, the exciting area of genomics."
The methods and instrumentation described in the patent can be used, for example, to control the enzymatic digestion of DNA to such a degree that a single nucleotide is released per reaction cycle. This capability would facilitate the development of DNA sequencing techniques that are potentially faster, less expensive and more accurate than those currently in use.
"There is currently a strong market demand for improved rapid DNA sequencing techniques due to the growing commercial importance of the field of genomics and the increased importance of genetic testing in medical diagnostics, therapeutics development, and forensics," said Dr. Henry Paulus, Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry at Harvard Medical School. "It has long been a goal in the development of rapid sequencing to use controlled digestion of DNA by exonuclease enzymes. By providing a method of precisely regulating when enzymes are active or inactive, PCT offers the very real potential to facilitate the development of such methods."
Boston Biomedica, Inc. is an infectious diseases management company providing products and services for the detection and treatment of infectious diseases such as AIDS, Lyme Disease, and Viral Hepatitis. The Company has four business units: (1) BBI Diagnostics, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer and seller of quality control and other diagnostic products used to increase the accuracy of in-vitro diagnostic tests, (2) BBI Clinical Laboratories, a leading specialty infectious diseases testing laboratory, (3) BBI Biotech Research Laboratories, providing R&D support for the other BBI business units as well as contract research services for third parties, and (4) BBI Source Scientific, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of laboratory and diagnostic instrumentation. In addition, the Company is pursuing research and development programs in the areas of Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) and drug discovery (Panacos Pharmaceuticals), with the goal of introducing new solutions for the detection and treatment of infectious diseases.
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 BBI may not be successful in developing pressure cycling technology (PCT) into commercially viable products or services or that BBI may not be issued any further patents in the field of PCT. 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 report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1998 and on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, June 30, and September 30, 1999. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO and Chairman, or Kevin W. Quinlan, President and COO, or William R. Prather, M.D., Sr. VP Finance & Business Dvlp. of Boston Biomedica, Inc., 508-580-1900
Web site: www.bbii.com
