WaferGen Bio-systems Announces Placement of ICELL8™ Single-Cell System at Neural Stem Cell Institute

ICELL8™ Single-Cell System to Enable Innovative Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research


FREMONT, Calif., March 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WaferGen Bio-systems (NASDAQ:WGBS), a life sciences tools company focused on developing and commercializing technology platforms for genomics solutions, announced today that the Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI), a not-for-profit organization that specializes in translational therapeutic stem cell research for diseases of the nervous system, located in Rensselaer, New York, recently selected the ICELL8™ Single-Cell System to conduct innovative stem cell research, with the goal of developing novel therapies for diseases of the brain and spinal cord.  

“The ICELL8™ system will enable greater throughput and analysis of heterogeneous cells of different sizes,” said Dr. Sally Temple, a leader in the field of neural stem cells and the Scientific Director of the NSCI. “With the added ability to image and choose specific cells, we will be able to conduct experiments with greater confidence and interrogate specific stem cell subtypes quickly and effectively.”

"We are pleased that the NSCI, a leader in developing regenerative stem cell discoveries and therapies, has selected the ICELL8™ system to advance their single cell genomics research in diseases of the nervous system," said Rolland Carlson, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of WaferGen Bio-systems. “The ICELL8™ Single-Cell system’s ability to isolate cells from tissues that have previously been inaccessible to single-cell genomics will enable innovative research for both stem cell and neuroscience researchers in the future.”

The ICELL8™ Single-Cell System is a revolutionary platform with the ability to isolate thousands of single cells and process specific cells of interest for downstream analysis using Next Generation Sequencing. The system includes an imaging station and CellSelect™ software for imaging and automatic selection of single cells for downstream processing. Recently, WaferGen’s Early-Access partners presented compelling results related to their use of the system at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology 2016 General Meeting, including data from studies with neural cells.

About Neural Stem Cell Institute
The Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI) is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization and the first independent, neural stem cell research institute in the United States. Headquartered at the East Campus of the University at Albany in Rensselaer, NY. NSCI is a unique organization that produces leading stem cell research to develop new therapies for diseases of the central nervous system such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Age-related Macular Degeneration. NSCI aims to harness the power of stem cells to ease suffering caused by injury and disease of the brain, spinal cord and retina. NSCI has over 30 individuals focused on finding new ways to promote nervous system repair and has published numerous articles on groundbreaking stem cell discoveries and their implications for neural disease cures.

About WaferGen
WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc. is a biotechnology company that offers innovative genomic technology solutions for single-cell analysis and clinical research. The single cell analysis platform is a revolutionary system which can isolate thousands of single cells and processes specific cells for analysis, including Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The SmartChip platform can be used for profiling and validating molecular biomarkers, and can perform massively-parallel single-plex PCR for one-step target enrichment and library preparation for clinical NGS. These technologies offer a powerful set of tools for biological analysis at the molecular and single-cell level in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and clinical laboratory industries.

For additional information, please see http://www.wafergen.com

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate" or other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements in this press release may address the following subjects among others: statements regarding the sufficiency of our capital resources, expected operating losses, expected revenues, expected expenses, expected cash usage, our expectations regarding our development of future products including single cell analysis technologies and our expectations concerning our competitive position and business strategy. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and uncertainties described in the Risk Factors and in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.


            

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