FREMONT, Calif. and LUXEMBOURG, Dec. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- WaferGen Bio-systems (NASDAQ: WGBS) announced today that the Company has signed a collaboration agreement with the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), a leading public medical research center that specializes in oncology, infectious diseases, immunology, and population health. LIH will provide laboratory facilities for the ICELL8 Single-Cell System and use of its state-of-the art cell culture, genomics and proteomics facilities. The agreement will allow European researchers to evaluate the system, which can also be used to support LIH research programs.
The ICELL8 Single-Cell System is a revolutionary platform which can isolate thousands of single cells and process specific cells of interest for downstream analysis using Next Generation Sequencing. The system was developed in collaboration with several leading medical research centers under an early access program, including the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Recently, WaferGen presented results generated by the ICELL8 Single-Cell System at the Single Cell Genomics Conference in Utrecht, Netherlands, demonstrating that the system is capable of isolating and selecting over 13,000 single cells in less than 8 hours using its automated dispensing and image analysis software.
“The Luxembourg Institute of Health continuously strives to provide the most innovative technologies to advance medical research and improve patient health care,” said Dr. Jean-Claude Schmit, General Director, LIH. “Collaborating with leading biotechnology companies, such as WaferGen, is one important avenue to enhance our scientific and academic programs, and we are pleased to be providing both Luxembourg and European researchers access to this novel single-cell analysis system.”
In 2011, WaferGen formed a wholly-owned subsidiary in Luxembourg to establish a presence for the Company’s marketing and research activities in Europe. The Luxembourg Ministry of Finance provided assistance to support the establishment of the WaferGen subsidiary. Earlier in 2015, the Company established new offices and laboratory space at the LIH.
“We have greatly appreciated the longstanding support of Luxembourg, including the LIH, in facilitating the introduction of WaferGen’s technology platforms to the life science and medical research community in Europe,” said Dr. Rolland Carlson, CEO of WaferGen Bio-systems. “This agreement to expand LIH’s facilities to accommodate the ICELL8 Single-Cell System will now allow us to demonstrate the capabilities of our full suite of technologies, including the SmartChip MyDesign Real-Time PCR System, the Seq-Ready TE System and the Apollo 324 System, in Europe. In addition, our recent $17 million financing is being utilized to support the commercial launch of our ICELL8 Single-Cell System in Europe, as well as the U.S.”
About Luxembourg Health Institute
The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) is a renowned research center formed from CRP-Santé and the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg (IBBL) and is recognized by the international scientific community for its excellence in biomedical research and public health. LIH actively collaborates with national research partners (i.e. hospitals, the life sciences unit of the University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Centre for Systems BioMedicine (LCSB), and private biomedical organizations. For more information, visit https://www.lih.lu
About WaferGen
WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc. is a biotechnology company that offers innovative genomic technology solutions for single-cell analysis and clinical research. The ICELL8 Single-Cell System can isolate thousands of single cells and processes specific cells for analysis, including Next Generation Sequencing. The system has demonstrated unbiased isolation of up to 1,800 single cells ranging from 5-100 µm in size on a single chip, including single cells from solid tumors, brain cells, pulmonary airway cells, and multiple cell lines. The SmartChip platform can be used for profiling and validating molecular biomarkers, and can perform massively-parallel singleplex PCR for one-step target enrichment and library preparation for clinical NGS. The Apollo 324 system can be used to process DNA and RNA from clinical samples to next generation sequencing ready libraries. These technologies offer a powerful set of tools for biological analysis at the molecular and single-cell level in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and clinical laboratory industries.
For additional information, please see http://www.wafergen.com
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “seek,” “intend,” plan,” “estimate,” “anticipate” or other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements in this press release may address the following subjects among others: statements regarding the sufficiency of our capital resources, expected operating losses, expected revenues, expected expenses, expected cash usage, our expectations regarding our development of future products including single cell analysis technologies and our expectations concerning our competitive position and business strategy. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and uncertainties described in the Risk Factors and in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
INVESTOR CONTACTS:
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Brian Ritchie
BRitchie@LifeSciAdvisors.com
WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc.
Rollie Carlson
Rollie.Carlson@wafergen.com
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SOURCE WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc.
