New Patent Is Fourth Involving PCT To Be Issued Since March, 2000
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) announced today that a fourth patent for use of its proprietary Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) has been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This patent, "Pressure-Modulated Ion Activity" (US Patent No. 6,127,534), represents a method for purifying biological compounds based upon their differential binding to an immobile support at specified pressures. This technology offers a direct approach to purifying biological compounds -- including enzymes, proteins and nucleic acids -- and, unlike most current procedures, does not require the use of chemicals that must subsequently be removed because they may damage molecules or interfere with their activity. When combined with BBI's patented procedures for PCT instrumentation, methods for controlling enzymatic reactions, devices for purifying and concentrating nucleic acids, and methods for the disruption (lysis) of cells, viruses and bacteria, the claims contained in this newly issued patent extend the use of PCT to a broad range of biomedical purification applications.
"The PCT technology described in this patent offers a versatile platform for purifying biologically active molecules, including many important to biomedical research, diagnostics, and therapeutics," said Dr. Mark Manak, Senior Vice President of Boston Biomedica. "The major advantages of this system over existing methods are its simplicity of use; the retention of the structural integrity and activity of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids and synthetic molecules; and its compatibility with many existing purification processes."
Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Boston Biomedica said: "This fourth patent is an important, additional component of the intellectual property estate that we are building around our proprietary Pressure Cycling Technology. In addition, this patent provides us the opportunity to expand the line of PCT products and services that we are currently developing in the areas of nucleic acid diagnostics, blood plasma safety, and genomics, into the area of PCT-enhanced biomolecular purification processes as well."
BBI acquired PCT in late 1998 and has been developing its potential commercial applications while concomitantly establishing the infrastructure required to take full advantage of opportunities for implementation. BBI's current research programs involving PCT are supported in part by several government grants and a contract from the Consortium for Plasma Science that include using the technology for inactivating pathogens in human plasma and its derivatives and extracting nucleic acid from biological specimens used in genomics. Additional potential applications for PCT include its use in the areas of pathogen inactivation of vaccines, therapeutic and diagnostic reagents, optimizations of immunoassays, food safety and the purification of biomolecules.
Boston Biomedica, Inc. provides 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 supplier of quality control and diagnostics reagents 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 through its subsidiaries BBI BioSeq and Panacos Pharmaceuticals, respectively, with the goal of introducing new solutions for the detection, management and treatment of infectious diseases.
Statements contained in this news release that state the Company's or management's intention, 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 development of the technology, BBI may not be successful in developing pressure cycling technology into commercially viable products or services; that PCT may never become a better alternative than current methods for biomolecular purification, nucleic acid isolation or virus inactivation; that pressure cycling technology may not be adaptable to any other commercially viable applications; and that certain pressure cycling applications may not fall within the claims of the Company's four issued 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 filing including, but not limited to, the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31 and June 30, 2000. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO & Chairman, or Kevin W. Quinlan, President & COO, or William R. Prather, M.D., Sr. VP Finance & Business Dvlp., of Boston Biomedica, Inc., 508-580-1900