TORONTO, Aug. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - SQI Diagnostics
Inc. (TSX-V: SQD), a life sciences company that develops and
commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced
microarray diagnostics, today announced that it has entered into a
Master Service Agreement to contract with a UK-based company to
automate their DNA-based pathogen detection assays. During the
initial phase of this agreement, SQI will be paid to deliver an
automated working prototype of one of the customer's assays,
operational on SQI's sqidlite™ system. The initial phase is
scheduled for completion by mid-September
2014. It is anticipated that other molecular diagnostic
tests will be commissioned in a separate agreement following
successful implementation of the initial phase.
The first assay being automated is used to identify pathogens in
raw milk from dairy cows. Currently, dairy cows are routinely
tested for health through a global network of laboratories and when
symptoms of bacterial infections appear, pathogens are commonly
detected using traditional plate cultures. The new
application can be used for much faster and more accurate
identification of multiple pathogens simultaneously. The UK-based
company is developing additional assays for agriculture, food
safety and human pathogen testing, intended to screen high volumes
of samples on a regular basis.
"As we've explored this opportunity, we've been impressed by the
compatibility and synergy of our new customer's high-performance
molecular diagnostic technology with our automated multiplexing
assay technologies," said Andrew
Morris, CEO of SQI Diagnostics. "Although our automated
systems have been developed to run our own protein-based IVD and
pharma assays, our technology solution is highly adaptable to other
types of tests and this presents a valuable additional market
opportunity where our technologies can be applied with the
potential for significant test volumes and revenue."
About SQI Diagnostics
SQI Diagnostics is a life
sciences and diagnostics company that develops and commercializes
proprietary technologies and products for advanced microarray
diagnostics. The Company's proprietary microarray tests and
fully-automated systems are designed to simplify protein and
antibody testing workflow, increase throughput, reduce costs and
provide excellent data quality. For more information, please visit
www.sqidiagnostics.com.
Forward-looking Information
This news release
contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without
limitation, statements containing the words "will", "expects",
"intends" and other similar expressions which constitute
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable
securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's
current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to risks
related to the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals,
general economic and market segment conditions, and international
risk and currency exchange, agreements and future agreements to
sell our products, the success of our Diagnostic Tools and Services
business and our intent to build near-term revenue streams from
this business, the successful regulatory filing and receipt of
regulatory approvals for our later stage quantitative diagnostic
kits, the acceleration of our revenue ramp, general economic and
market segment conditions, competitor activity, technology changes
and regulatory approvals. Such statements reflect the current views
of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from
time-to-time in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities
regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at
www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ
materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements either as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.
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policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
SOURCE SQI Diagnostics Inc.