SOUTH EASTON, Mass., April 21, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:PBIO) ("PBI" and the "Company") today announced that it will host a Symposium entitled "Applications of Ultra-high Pressure in Biotechnology". The Symposium will be held from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm on Friday, May 21, 2010 in the Rotunda Room of the New Research Building at Harvard Medical School, 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur, in Boston, MA. The event will be co-hosted by the Laboratory for Innovative Translational Technologies (HC-LITT) and the Central Laboratory (HCCL) of Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (Harvard CTSC). The Symposium is free-of-charge; pre-registration is required.
Future solutions to existing life-threatening healthcare problems depend to a great extent on the ability of scientists to solve difficult and complex problems that can be bottlenecks or even barriers to important new discoveries. To that end, scientists continuously look for new, innovative methods to help solve these problems, in an effort to develop better solutions to current issues in such areas as human disease, biomarker discovery, agriculture, and forensics/counter-bioterror.
Over the past several years, a powerful new proprietary platform has become available to the research community: ultra-high hydrostatic pressure. A number of recent publications and presentations from academic, industry, and government scientists have highlighted the ability of ultra-high hydrostatic pressure - particularly if cycled between ambient and ultra-high levels (called "pressure cycling technology", or "PCT") - to greatly enhance certain biotechnology applications. In addition, several scientists have recently presented data on new reported findings, and have indicated that these results were only achievable with the use of PCT.
Dr. Nate Lawrence, Vice President of Marketing for PBI, said: "Expected Symposium presenters include a prestigious group of scientists from Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Barnett Institute at Northeastern University, the University of Montreal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Target Discovery, and others. Topics include the use of cycled hydrostatic pressure in such wide-ranging, important, and exciting applications as swine and seasonal flu vaccine quality control, ovarian cancer, anti-bioterror, forensic sciences, tissue pathology, bio-therapeutics, novel therapeutics and their targets, detection of pathogens adversely affecting important food crops, membrane protein research, sample preparation for genomic and proteomic studies, extraction of Lyme Disease bacterial DNA from infected ticks, and even the recovery of proteins from 30-40 million year old paleontological samples."
Dr. Lawrence continued: "Cycled ultra-high hydrostatic pressure is a powerful, enabling thermodynamic process that is beginning to play a significant role in many areas of biotechnology. Our hope is that this Symposium will be an effective way to highlight the many features and benefits of this novel, enabling, cutting-edge technology to scientists in Boston, and throughout the worldwide biotechnology industry."
Harvard CTSC is funded by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (Award #UL1 RR 025758) from the National Center for Research Resources (a part of the National Institutes of Health) and financial contributions from Harvard University and its affiliated academic healthcare centers. The mission of HC-LITT is to provide the Harvard research community with early access to new, enabling technologies.
Disclaimer
Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, the Harvard Catalyst Central Laboratory (HCCL), and the Harvard Catalyst Laboratory for Innovative Translational Technologies (HC-LITT) do not endorse any company or product. The opinions expressed in this press release are those of PBI and do not represent the views of Harvard Catalyst, Harvard University and its affiliated academic health care centers, the National Center for Research Resources, or the National Institutes of Health.
About Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (PBI) is a publicly traded company focused on the development of a novel, enabling technology called Pressure Cycling Technology (PCT). PCT uses cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels (up to 35,000 psi and greater) to control bio-molecular interactions. PBI currently holds 14 U.S. and 10 foreign patents covering multiple applications of PCT in the life sciences field, including genomic and proteomic sample preparation, pathogen inactivation, the control of chemical and enzymatic reactions, immunodiagnostics, and protein purification. PBI currently focuses its efforts in the development and sale of PCT-enhanced enzymatic digestion products designed specifically for the mass spectrometry marketplace, as well as sample preparation products for biomarker discovery, soil and plant biology, forensics, histology, and counter-bioterror applications.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding PBI's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, or predictions of the future are "forward-looking'' statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding the applications of cycled, ultra-high hydrostatic pressure (PCT) in biotechnology; that solutions to life-threatening diseases depend on solving complex problems that can be barriers to new discoveries; that scientists continuously look for new, innovative ways to solve such problems; that PCT is a powerful new proprietary platform; that PCT can enhance biotechnology applications and enable new discoveries; the possible range of applications of PCT; the expected presenters at the Symposium; that PCT is beginning to play a significant role in biotechnology; and that the Symposium will be an effective way to highlight the features and benefits of PCT. These statements are based upon the Company's current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not limited to: possible difficulties or delays in the implementation of the Company's strategies that may adversely affect the Company's continued commercialization of PCT and its PCT-dependent products; changes in customer's needs and technological innovations; other scientists may not achieve the same results with PCT reported by scientists in the past or by the scientists at the upcoming Symposium; the Company's sales force may not be successful in selling the Company's PCT product line because scientists may not perceive the advantages of PCT over other sample preparation methods, including in the various areas to be discussed at the upcoming Symposium; and due to unforeseen costs or delays, the Company may require additional working capital to fund its operations in the second half of 2011. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements are discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in PBI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, and other reports filed by PBI from time to time with the SEC. PBI undertakes no obligation to update any of the information included in this release, except as otherwise required by law.
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