Pressure BioSciences (OTCQB:PBIO) has shipped its third new Barozyme high throughput HT48 system to the Funk Laboratory of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern, the company said Wednesday.
The Funk Laboratory focuses on developing and applying biomarker methods to explore environmental risk factors tied to chronic diseases, cancers and other disorders. It is currently an existing customer of Pressure BioSciences' pressure cycling technology (PCT) instruments and products, the company said.
Its pressure cycling technology, on which the company's products are based, is used for genomic, proteomic and small molecule sample preparation, among multiple applications in the estimated $6 billion life sciences sample preparation market. PCT has been proven to increase proficiencies in biological sample preparation, and works by cycling pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels at controlled temperatures to control the interactions of bio-molecules.
The company launched the benchtop Barozyme HT48 in June, which uses disposable and automated microwell strips that are used by labs worldwide, a huge change from its previous instruments which required individual test tubes and handling samples manually.
The benefit of the automated strips is that they can be left unattended, which has been seen by analysts as the biggest drawback from switching to PCT-based instruments until recently.
The Barozyme HT-48, which was designed for rapid protein digestion, is capable of processing up to 48 samples simultaneously using its BaroFlex 8-well, single-use processing strips.
Pressure BioSciences said Wednesday it believes its new instrument offers major benefits for integrating the PCT-based sample preparation platform into modern lab operations that take advantage of robotic automation for high throughput handling and processing of samples.
“We believe the Barozyme HT48 is a ‘game-changing’ system that can fuel growth, increase revenue for existing and new PCT-based applications and products, and greatly facilitate the formation of new strategic partnerships," said chief executive officer, Richard T. Schumacher.
"To help achieve these objectives, we plan to strengthen and expand our infrastructure, primarily the areas of marketing, sales, manufacturing, and engineering services," he said, adding that the company has plans to begin this work immediately to take full advantage of this opportunity.
Dr. William Funk of Northwestern said he believes the new Barozyme HT48 system will provide "vast benefits" in exposure science for investigating links between the environment and human health due to its ability to offer faster sample preparation and higher sample throughput.
The company remains on target to expand its Barozyme HT48 program to additional labs, both in the U.S. and internationally, in the coming weeks and months, it said.