Company Unveils Proprietary PULSE FT-500 Disposable, Single-Use Tube
WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Biomedica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBII) today began demonstrations of its novel PCT sample preparation system for the efficient release of nucleic acids from a wide variety of cells and tissues, including hard-to-lyse plant and animal materials, as announced in its June 20th press release. Scientists and engineers from Boston Biomedica are presenting data, demonstrating the Barocyler instrument, and discussing the single use, disposable PULSE FT-500 tube to selected companies from around the world through August 2nd at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. In addition, a workshop on the Power of PCT will be offered on August 1, open to all meeting attendees.
The PCT sample separation system utilizes the Company's patented PCT technology, its proprietary Barocycler instrument, and its newly designed and patent-pending disposable devices called PULSE (for Pressure Used to Lyse Samples and Extract) tubes. 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 agriculture, medicine, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, as well as in clinical diagnostics, such as cancer and infectious diseases testing.
The demonstrations at the AACC are using prototypes of the Barocycler model and custom-made PULSE tubes (PULSE FT-500). The demonstration, workshop, and exposition attendees will be allowed to have an up-close look at the Barocycler; the design and functionality of the PULSE FT-500 tube will also be discussed for the first time publicly at the Meeting.
The system uses a unique combination of pressure and temperature in BBI's ultra-high pressure Barocyler instrument, together with the Company's proprietary PULSE FT-500 tube, to efficiently release cellular contents from a wide variety of biological samples in significantly less time than manual laboratory techniques.
The PULSE FT-500 tube works primarily in the following way. The sample to be processed is placed in an initial chamber (chamber #1), between a movable ram (piston) and a shredding disc (perforated disc containing multiple holes). When pressure is applied, the disc moves inward, forcing the sample through the shredding disc and into a second chamber (chamber #2), one that has been filled with chemicals and/or buffers. When the pressure is reduced, the ram returns to its original position in the tube, pulling the homogenized sample back through the shredding disc and into chamber #1. The pressure is cycled several more times between high and low levels; each cycle causes the sample to move back and forth between chambers #1 and #2, passing through the shredding disc. At the end of the pressure cycling procedure, the sample has been completely homogenized and the nucleic acids and/or proteins have been released for analysis or for further processing.
In addition to the PULSE FT-500, Boston Biomedica is also planning to unveil a new tube design, one that will potentially allow for the complete preparation and analysis of a sample without the need to ever remove the sample from the tube. This device has multiple chambers separated by pressure and/or temperature dependent septa; reactions take place in a step-wise manner as the sample flows through the various chambers of the tube during the pressure cycling procedure. A patent application covering this multi-chamber PULSE tube design was filed on July 30, 2001.
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 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 nucleic acid and/or protein purification or isolation; that certain pressure cycling applications may not fall within the claims of the Company's six issued patents; that individuals and groups utilizing such PCT procedures may not be required to license such technology from BBI; and that the PULSE FT-500 tube, and the multi-chamber tube, may not become commercially viable products. 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 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2001; Form 8-K filed March 8, 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/11690X18141728
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., +1-508-580-1900, or fax, +1-508-580-1110
