Pressure BioSciences' SCIEX Deal Could Dramatically Accelerate Revenue

REDONDO BEACH, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2016 / SCIEX, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR), recently announced an exclusive co-marketing agreement with Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO). PBIO is a worldwide leader in the development and sale of pressure cycling technology (PCT)-based sample preparation systems to the life sciences research market. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly promote PBIO’s PCT-based sample preparation systems and SCIEX’s mass spectrometry equipment, with a focus on improved sample preparation, a crucial step performed by hundreds of thousands of research laboratories worldwide. This combination of technologies could result in superior biological insights and discoveries in the life sciences industry, and in rapid and dramatic revenue growth for PBIO.

The deal is significant given SCIEX’s leadership position in the proteomics (the study of proteins) subset of an industry that Research and Markets expects will reach $7.2 billion by 2020. After the Danaher acquisition in 2009 for $1.1 billion, SCIEX was able to leverage Danaher’s 47,000 associates serving customers in more than 125 countries to significantly grow its market share. The company is now one of the “Big Six” mass spectrometry companies worldwide and a clear leader in proteomics with its impressive “SWATH” based next generation proteomics mass spectrometry instruments.

The combination of PBIO’s PCT Platform with SCIEX’s SWATH mass spectrometry is now being referred to by some of the leading protein experts in the world as “PCT-SWATH.”

Why the PCT Technology Platform Matters

Pressure BioSciences’ PCT Platform solves a critical problem in the mass spectrometry industry – the speed, accuracy, and overall quality of sample preparation.

Traditional sample preparation is accomplished primarily by breaking cells (whether normal or abnormal, regardless if from plant, animal, or human tissue) using mechanical means to obtain proteins, lipids, nucleic acids (DNA/RNA), or other cellular components (“biomolecules”) for analysis. These mechanical methods, such as battering the cell with dozens of tiny beads as it spins in a centrifuge or a vortex, can actually damage or even destroy some of the biomolecules that scientists are trying to release from the cell for their investigative studies. PCT works in a completely different way. By subjecting the cell to alternating cycles of hydrostatic pressure between ambient and high/ultrahigh levels, the company’s PCT platform quickly, safely and reproducibly controls the cell lysis (breakage) process, while it squeezes out important cellular components with minimal or no damage whatsoever (like squeezing a sponge).

In the January 12th SCIEX press release, Professor Ruedi Aebersold, Director of the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology at the ETH in Zurich Switzerland, and a worldwide expert in the field of proteomics, said that PCT-SWATH “should increase the chance for biomarker discovery, potentially leading to significant improvements in healthcare, including personalized medicine.”

As a result of the co-marketing arrangement, the combination PCT-SWATH offering will be capable of producing a proteome analysis within 12 hours from the start of tissue processing, mush faster than current methods, as well as a more comprehensive protein quantitation from complex samples. As an example, PCT-SWATH could be used in the context of personalized medicine to analyze thousands of proteins in tissue biopsies, compared to just the hundreds of proteins currently analyzed in these important samples using traditional methods, and to generate very important quantitative digital proteome maps.

Leveraging SCIEX’s Distribution

SCIEX is a global leader in mass spectrometry with a focus on capillary electrophoresis and liquid chromatography, empowering labs working in basic research, drug discovery and development, food and environmental testing, forensics, and clinical research. With over 40 years of experience in the space, the company has been a leader in understanding the evolving needs of customers and finding answers to complex analytical challenges in the field.

As a worldwide market leader in mass spectrometry, SCIEX has dozens of sales and marketing personnel and a worldwide distribution network. Consequently, this co-marketing agreement will act to introduce Pressure BioSciences’ entire PCT instrument and consumables line to hundreds of existing SCIEX customers worldwide, each of which could benefit from the PBIO PCT platform. Compare this to PBIO’s current sales and marketing team of two personnel, and one can quickly understand why the company’s revenue could dramatically and significantly increase in 2016, and beyond.

Interestingly, as word spreads, mass spectrometry competitors of SCIEX like Thermo Fischer Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO) and Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) may also be interested in signing agreements of their own with Pressure BioSciences to improve sample preparation in front of their instruments, which should ultimately make their platforms more desirable. Even if they don’t, the exposure that PBIO is about to receive through the SCIEX co-marketing deal will most likely expose the PCT sample preparation product line to thousands of non-SCIEX mass spectrometry customers that today do not know of either PBIO or PCT. Either way, PBIO is the big winner.

There’s also the potential for eventual M&A in the space. Markets and Markets projects that the sample preparation industry could reach $5.6 billion by 2018 and it’s a market that many mass spectrometry companies already target. For example, Danaher, Thermo Fischer, Qiagen NV (NASDAQ: QGEN) and Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) all have interest in new sample preparation offerings. If Pressure BioSciences’ PCT technology platform catches on, its modest $7 million market cap could make it a buy-out target.

Looking Ahead

Pressure BioSciences stands at a tipping point in its corporate history. After spending years developing its PCT technology platform, and growing mostly by word-of-mouth, the company’s co-marketing agreement with SCIEX could quickly spread the word to hundreds, perhaps thousands of potential customers, and drive PBIO’s near-term revenue to unprecedented levels.

Last quarter, the company reported a 55.8% increase in revenue and a 13.4% decrease in operating costs, despite scaling up its marketing and sales efforts. The SCIEX agreement could boost these figures significantly further in 2016. Management also cleaned up the company’s finances by eliminating all of its variable rate convertible notes, which had been a significant overhang on the stock over the past 2-3 years, opening the door to easier, less expensive, and much safer financing.

Finally, the company has disclosed that it plans to up-list to the NASDAQ or NYSE in the first half of 2016, which would expand the visibility of its stock in the financial markets. Since many institutional investors are not allowed to buy over-the-counter securities, the move could open the door for more liquidity and a wider investment base.

Investors in companies like NanoString Technologies (NASDAQ: NSTG), which specializes in genomic sampling technology; NeoGenomics (NASDAQ: NEO), which provides cancer-focused genetic and molecular testing; and Protea Biosciences Group (OTC: PRGB), which provides small molecule and tissue analytics services, may want to keep an eye on this small company. The combination of catalysts noted above could make the stock worth watching over the coming quarters as Pressure BioSciences scales up revenue, drives the installed base of its instruments, becomes a much more recognizable player in the large and growing mass spectrometry field, and attracts more investment.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.pressurebiosciences.com.

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Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release.Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://secfilings.com/Disclaimer.aspx.

SOURCE: Emerging Growth LLC

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