PBI and TDI announce strategic licensing and collaborative research and development agreement

Mar 11 2010

Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:PBIO) ("PBI") and Target Discovery, Inc. ("TDI"), (together "the companies"), today announced a strategic product licensing, manufacturing, co-marketing, and collaborative research and development agreement (the "Agreement"). Under the terms of the Agreement, PBI has been licensed by TDI to manufacture and sell a highly innovative line of chemicals used in the preparation of tissues for scientific analysis (the "TDI reagents"). The TDI reagents were designed for use in combination with PBI's Pressure Cycling Technology ("PCT"). The companies believe that the combination of PCT and the TDI reagents can fill a large, existing need in life science research for an automated method for rapid extraction and recovery of intact, functional proteins associated with cell membranes in tissue samples.

Membrane proteins are vital to the development of new vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, as they are involved in many important cell functions, including cell signaling, response, and transportation mechanisms. In many cases, these proteins are tightly bound within the membrane, making them very difficult to extract for scientific study. Traditional extraction methods use aggressive chemical and mechanical means, which can destroy the structure and function of proteins. TDI's reagents, in combination with the thermodynamic action of PCT, effectively stabilize both the structure and function of membrane proteins as they are released from tissue samples.

"Currently, scientists are typically limited to studying the non-functional fragments of membrane proteins," commented Dr. Luke V. Schneider, TDI's Chief Scientific Officer. "However, with the combination of PCT and TDI reagents, they now have an economical and straight-forward method to effectively extract and study intact and functional proteins from cell membranes. Membrane proteins are the target for about 50% of pharmaceutical research, and this new method may thus result in the discovery of important new biomarkers, and the subsequent development or improvement of vital therapeutic and diagnostic products."

Mr. Jeffrey N. Peterson, CEO of TDI said: "Our team has very strong chemical engineering expertise, which gave us an immediate appreciation for the thermodynamic processes that drive PBI's powerful and innovative pressure cycling technology."

Mr. Peterson continued: "We are most impressed with the quality of PBI's engineering, science, and management teams, their enviable list of current customers, the number of potential PCT applications, and with their business vision and focus. These characteristics, and their growing reputation in the life sciences research field, make them an ideal partner for Target Discovery."

Dr. Nate Lawrence, Vice President of Marketing for PBI, said: "The companies plan to develop additional products incorporating the TDI reagents for other tissue processing and extraction applications. We believe that this will further extend this powerful new ability to access and leverage the research value of membrane proteins. The TDI reagents will be packaged in ready-to-use kits. We believe that these kits are complementary to our existing line of ProteoSolve™ kits, and will help drive additional sales of our patented Barocycler instruments and consumables."

Dr. Lawrence continued: "We plan to collaborate with TDI in the marketing and promotion of the TDI reagents in industry publications, at scientific meetings, on each company's website, through common collaborator studies, and at key industry trade shows. To that end, we will be assisting TDI in the first public presentation of these exciting new TDI reagents demonstrated in a PCT-based application at US HUPO's 6^th Annual Conference in Denver from March 7-10, 2010."