WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) announced today that Dr. Feng Tao, Project Scientist in the Company's Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) research group, will present data this afternoon at Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Genomic Sample Preparation Conference in Boston on BBI's novel system for the extraction of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from cells and tissues. Dr. Tao's talk, entitled Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT)-Based Nucleic Acid Sample Preparation for Diagnostics and Genomics, will address a new method for releasing nucleic acids from a variety of biological samples. The system combines Boston Biomedica's patented PCT technology with patent-pending devices to efficiently prepare nucleic acid samples from cells and tissues. This process represents a new and exciting approach to solving a difficult laboratory problem, and offers potentially important advantages for proteomics and nucleic acid testing in many fields, including research and industrial applications in agriculture, medicine, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
The PCT sample preparation system utilizes a unique combination of pressure and temperature in BBI's ultra-high pressure BAROCYCLER(TM) instrument to efficiently release cellular contents while maintaining the integrity and biological activity of the molecules liberated, and in significantly less time than standard laboratory techniques. Since this process does not require the use of detergents or harsh chemicals, the initial product can be used directly as a source of nucleic acids for many research applications, or can be further processed to obtain more highly purified materials. The products prepared by the PCT sample processing system can also be used for analysis and purification of other biological molecules such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and various metabolites.
"Our novel PCT sample processing system generates high quality cellular component preparations in a few minutes, thus eliminating the slow and labor- intensive methods commonly used for hard-to-lyse cell and tissue sample processing," commented Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Boston Biomedica. "We are very excited by the results of these studies, and believe that this work may lead to the release of our first commercial PCT product."
Boston Biomedica, Inc. provides products and services for the detection and monitoring of infectious diseases such as AIDS and Viral Hepatitis. BBI has three operating 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 Biotech Research Laboratories, a research and development center providing R&D support for the other BBI business units, as well as contract research and repository services for the government, industry and other third parties, and (3) BBI Source Scientific, an ISO 9001 certified manufacturer of diagnostic instrumentation and medical devices. In addition, BBI is conducting research and development in Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT) through its subsidiary BBI BioSeq, with the goal of introducing new solutions for a number of important healthcare issues, including: inactivation of pathogens in human plasma, extraction of nucleic acids, food safety, and genomics. BBI also maintains a passive investment in Panacos Pharmaceuticals, a privately held antiviral drug and vaccine development company recently spun-out from BBI, whose goal is to introduce new solutions for the 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 the PCT sample processing system may never become a better alternative than current methods for biomolecular purification or nucleic acid isolation; 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 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, 2000 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2000. Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
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SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.bbii.com
CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO & Chairman, or Kevin W. Quinlan, President & COO William R. Prather, M.D., Sr. VP Finance & Business Dvlp., 508-580-1900, all of Boston Biomedica, Inc.
