Pressure BioSciences inks another distribution deal for PCT products in Benelux region

Pressure BioSciences (NASDAQ:PBIO) said Thursday that it has inked another distribution deal with Netherlands-based life sciences company LA Biosystems BV.

Shares gained more than 2.1 percent Thursday, to trade at 66 cents as of 1:35pm ET.

Under the terms of the agreement, LABio will have the exclusive right to market and sell Pressure BioSciences' pressure cycling technology (PCT) sample preparation instruments and consumables in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

In addition, LABio will have the non-exclusive right to market and sell the company's recently released, patent-pending, mechanical homogenization device, the Shredder SG3, and its associated consumables, in the same three countries.

Pressure BioSciences' CEO Schumacher said earlier this month that the company is now focused on aggressively commercializing its products based on its key patented PCT platform, which uses rapid and repeating cycles of hydrostatic pressure at controlled temperatures to extract cell components in the preparation of a biological sample, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins from humans, animals and plants, for further study.

The applications of the company's PCT-based products are endless - from the key $2 billion target market of mass spectrometry, an analytical technique used to determine the characteristics of molecules, to biomarker discovery, forensics and counter-bioterrorism, among other uses.

Since Pressure BioSciences began commercial operations in the middle of 2007, it has come a long way, releasing a number of PCT-based products geared towards the $6 billion sample preparation market, including three pressure-generating instruments named Barocyclers, a patent-pending sample homogenization device (The Shredder SG3), five types of single-use processing containers and six different, application-specific reagent kits.

Already, the company has installed around 200 of its PCT Barocycler instruments plus required consumables in laboratories. The sample preparation system has been proven to be safer, more accurate, reproducible, and much faster than current cell extraction methods - with up to 48 samples able to be processed from a wide variety of cells and tissues within minutes.

“We have an aggressive commercialization plan for our PCT-based and other products for 2012. Integral to this plan is the expansion of our sales reach into the thousands of biological research laboratories outside the US," said vice president of marketing for the company, Dr. Nate Lawrence.

"We believe the best way to achieve this goal is to partner with established, well-respected distribution leaders with close, existing relationships with the research laboratories who are potential customers of our enabling product line.

"We believe that LABio is one of the top life sciences   distributors covering Benelux, and has the staff, contacts, and capabilities to successfully market the PBI product line in this region of Europe. We are expecting great things from LABio.”

Last month, Pressure BioSciences also saw its shares surge after it announced the signing of a co-marketing and selling agreement with Digilab.

LA Biosystems works closely with IUL Instruments, a large life sciences distributor based in Germany. Pressure BioSciences announced a partnership with IUL in December 2011, in which IUL became the exclusive distributor for the company's PCT product line for Germany and Switzerland.

Co-founder and general manager of LA Biosystems,  Louis Spierings, said: “We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with PBI, and to represent their impressive product line – including their powerful PCT Platform - to our base of existing customers in Benelux.

"We understand all too well the importance of good quality sample preparation in the research laboratory, and so do our many customers. Because of this, we believe that the PBI product line will be well received by our customer base, and that we will be successful in generating revenue for both PBI and LABio in 2012, and beyond.”

LA Biosystems specializes in microbiology, cell biology, and biotechnology applications. It also markets, sells, and supports equipment for microbiological food control, analytical devices, and process technology for fermentation, cell culture, and life cell imaging.