WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) today announced plans for the first public demonstrations of its novel PCT sample processing system for the efficient release of nucleic acids from a wide variety of cells and tissues, including hard-to-lyse plant and animal materials. The initial demonstration will take place at the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders this Thursday, June 21. Additional presentations will be made to selected companies from around the world during the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry between July 30 and August 1. A workshop on the "Power of PCT" will then be offered on the final day of the AACC meeting (August 2), open to all meeting attendees.
The PCT sample separation system utilizes the Company's patented PCT technology, its proprietary Barocycler(R) instrument, and its newly designed and patent-pending disposable devices - called PULSE tubes (for Pressure Used to Lyse Samples for Extraction). This process represents a new and exciting approach to solving a difficult laboratory problem: biological sample preparation from hard-to-lyse materials. It offers potentially important advantages for proteomics and genomics, including research and industrial applications in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and biotechnology, as well as for clinical diagnostics, such as in cancer and infectious diseases testing.
The demonstrations at both the Shareholders Meeting and AACC will use prototypes of the Barocycler model and the PULSE tube (PULSE FT100), both of which are expected to be very close in design to the final versions the Company plans to commercialize. Attendees at both meetings will be allowed to have an up-close look at the Barocycler, but the design and functionality of the disposable PULSE tube will not be disclosed until the July demonstrations, or perhaps even later.
"The system utilizes a unique combination of pressure and temperature in BBI's ultra-high pressure Barocyler instrument to efficiently release cellular contents from a wide variety of biological samples in significantly less time than standard laboratory techniques," commented Dr. Feng Tao, Project Scientist at Boston Biomedica. "For example, using this approach, nucleic acids can be released from hard-to-lyse cell and tissue samples in less than 10 minutes and reach 80-100% of the yields of some current labor intensive manual methods, which can take as long as four hours to complete."
"The Company has been looking forward to this moment since the day we first purchased the PCT technology, in September of 1998," said Dr. Nate Lawrence, PCT Project Director at BBI. "Although the system is still a prototype, we do have patent protection on the technology and have successfully demonstrated the process on numerous occasions. We are aware of the market need for simple and efficient sample preparation of hard-to-lyse materials and we firmly believe that the PCT sample preparation system may be the solution."
Richard T. Schumacher, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Boston Biomedica added: "Based on the recent development of the disposable PULSE tube, the continued generation of exciting new data, and other developments of the past few months, Dr. Lawrence and his project team were recently requested to accelerate their timetable for market introduction. Should the data continue to confirm earlier studies, we are hopeful to have a commercial PCT sample preparation system available for market introduction by Q2 of 2002. We expect this to be the first of several products based on our versatile and innovative PCT platform technology."
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-off 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 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, 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 within the next twelve months or at all; 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 five issued patents; that individuals and groups utilizing such PCT procedures may not be required to license such technology from BBI; and that the demonstrations at the Annual Shareholders Meeting and the AACC may not occur as planned. 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 (as amended) for the year ended December 31, 2000, Form 8-K filed March 8, 2001, Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, and in the Company's Registration Statements on Form S-3 (Reg. No. 333-46426 and Reg. No. 333-94379). Copies of these documents may be obtained by contacting the Company or the SEC.
Visit us at our website http://www.bbii.com
Please email us at IR@bbii.com if you prefer to receive future announcements electronically.
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X86724463
SOURCE Boston Biomedica, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.bbii.com
CONTACT: Richard T. Schumacher, CEO & Chairman, or Kevin W. Quinlan, President & COO, both of Boston Biomedica, Inc., 508-580-1900