Ultra High-Pressure Instrument Expected to Enhance the Science and Commercial Applications of High Pressure Processing Studies for Food Quality and Safety; Results Expected to Guide Development of the Company's Ultra Shear Technology Platform
SOUTH EASTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 13, 2018 / Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) ("PBI" or the "Company"), a leader in the development and sale of broadly enabling, pressure-based instruments, consumables, and platform technology solutions to the worldwide life sciences industry, today announced the sale of the first two instruments from its newest line of high-pressure based instrument systems, the HUB880 Explorer.
Dr. Nate Lawrence, PBI's Vice President of Marketing and Sales, said: "We are delighted that the first customer for our new HUB880 Explorer system is one of Japan's leading research institutes conducting research and development on agriculture and food. The institute's goal is to increase the productivity and safety of agriculture and food, while reducing production costs. We expect the institute to use the HUB880 Explorer to study the effects of high pressure on food processing and on a number of foodborne pathogens."
Dr. Lawrence continued: "We are equally pleased that the second system was recently purchased by the Public Health Microbiology Laboratory ("PHM Laboratory") at Tennessee State University ("TSU"). The PHM Laboratory's goal is to conduct research to better understand environmental and enteric pathogens and spoilage organisms. The PHM Laboratory is studying the effects of high-pressure processing ("HPP") on several of the more prevalent foodborne pathogens, including E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella."
According to information on the PHM Laboratory website, foodborne diseases cost an estimated 420,000 lives every year around the globe and are collectively responsible for the loss of over 33 million years of healthy living annually. Additionally, one out of six Americans experiences illnesses from these pathogens every year, leading to about 128,000 hospitalizations and over 3,000 deaths annually.
Dr. Aliyar Fouladkhah is an Assistant Professor at TSU and Director of the PHM Laboratory. He and his team have used PBI's pressure-based instruments for several years, during which time they have generated multiple publications related to foodborne pathogens, food quality and safety. Dr. Fouladkhah said: "I am really proud to know that, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the progress food scientists have made in the development of safer and healthier foods has been one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century. It is unequivocally clear to me that the food science community will require extensive innovative solutions and cutting-edge technologies for years to come. High-pressure processing is one such technology. Ultra Shear Technology ("UST") may be another."
Dr. Lawrence added: "Our collaboration with Dr. Fouladkhah and the PHML team has been very fruitful. Their publications using PBI's pressure-based systems have been impactful and well received, especially in the foodborne disease area. With its ability to reach higher pressure levels and accept larger sample sizes, we believe the new HUB880 Explorer will enable scientists at public health, food science, microbiology, agriculture, and other such research laboratories, as well as scientists involved in food processing technologies like HPP, to study the mechanisms by which pressure inactivates food pathogens and spoilage organisms, which should lead to improvements in the HPP area, and to safer food. Because of this, we believe the HUB880 Explorer has the potential to add significantly to our revenue base in the foreseeable future."
Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO of PBI, said: "PBI is expanding its efforts and commitment into two very different but related areas of the very large food equipment industry: (i) laboratory-scale, high-pressure based research instruments (e.g., the HUB880 Explorer) to help scientists better understand the mechanisms by which high pressure can inactivate foodborne pathogens and spoilage organisms, which in turn should improve the processing of food, resulting in safer and higher quality food for consumers worldwide, and (ii) Ultra Shear Technology, a scalable food processing method that can address the limitations of using HPP for food, such as batch mode processing only, high cost, poor results on low acid foods, and a requirement for post-processed food to be refrigerated. This entry into the food equipment market is highly complementary to our existing presence in the life sciences tools industry, as it provides exciting new opportunities for growth by using the technical, scientific, and operational expertise we acquired while working on our cutting-edge biological sample preparation equipment."
Mr. Schumacher concluded: "We recently released news on our patented Ultra Shear Technology platform, which combines high pressure with intense shear forces, while minimizing exposure to damaging elevated temperatures. We also announced the award of close to $1 million dollars from the USDA to Ohio State University to fund the development of the UST platform, of which we will receive $318,000 for the design, development, and manufacture of the initial prototypes of the bench-top and floor model UST instruments. We believe UST can be used to process healthy, nutritious, great tasting beverages and liquid foods, with extended shelf-lives but no chemical additives. We also believe that UST can play a significant role in other very large market segments, such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, paints, and industrial lubricants."
About Pressure BioSciences, Inc.
Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) is a leader in the development and sale of innovative, broadly enabling, pressure-based solutions for the worldwide life sciences industry. Our products are based on the unique properties of both constant (i.e., static) and alternating (i.e., pressure cycling technology, or "PCT") hydrostatic pressure. PCT is a patented enabling technology platform that uses alternating cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and ultra-high levels to safely and reproducibly control bio-molecular interactions (e.g., cell lysis, biomolecule extraction). Our primary focus is in the development of PCT-based products for biomarker and target discovery, drug design and development, biotherapeutics characterization and quality control, soil & plant biology, forensics, and counter-bioterror applications. Additionally, PBIO is actively expanding the use of our pressure-based technologies in the following areas: (1) the use of our recently acquired PreEMT technology from BaroFold, Inc. to allow entry into the biologics contract research services sector, and (2) the use of our recently-patented, scalable, high-efficiency, pressure-based Ultra Shear Technology ("UST") platform to (i) create stable nanoemulsions of otherwise immiscible fluids (e.g., oils and water) and to (ii) prepare higher quality, homogenized, extended shelf-life or room temperature stable low-acid liquid foods that cannot be effectively preserved using existing non-thermal technologies.
Forward Looking Statements
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Investor Contacts:
Richard T. Schumacher, President and CEO
Nathan P. Lawrence, Ph.D., VP of Marketing and Sales
(508) 230-1828 (T)
(508) 230-1829 (F)
SOURCE: Pressure BioSciences, Inc.