LexaGene Begins Beta Development of Pathogen Detection System
BEVERLY, Mass., July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (OTCQB:LXXGF) (TSX-V:LXG) (the “Company”), a biotechnology company that develops instrumentation for pathogen detection, today announced that it has entered into the beta stage of product development of its flagship pathogen detection system. The Company recently completed a $5.7M equity financing through a bought deal short-form prospectus offering that included a fully-subscribed over-allotment due to strong investor demand. This infusion of capital has enabled the Company to further accelerate product development.
LexaGene’s pathogen detection system is expected to be the first easy-to-use, open-access pathogen detection system. It is designed for use by high value markets including veterinary and human clinical diagnostics, food safety, and general open-access markets such as pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic laboratories where there is a need for customizing genetic tests. LexaGene’s instrument screens samples for up to 22 pathogens at once, returns results in about 1 hour, and the Company expects to be able to offer testing at price points that are significantly lower than competitor offerings.
Daryl Rebeck, LexaGene’s President, states, “Over the last eight months, this Company has undergone a significant transformation. Last December, we raised $5.4M, which allowed us to establish a state-of-the-art R&D laboratory and hire the core team to work on the alpha prototype. The alpha prototype has exceeded many of our expectations. From the information gathered from our alpha, we are now applying this knowledge into our beta design. The alpha prototype was designed to be an in-house learning tool providing us with the base knowledge to better design our beta units. Manufactured betas will be sent to interested buyers for evaluation. The beta program will also allow us to develop our manufacturing procedures for commercializing the final product.”
Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGene’s CEO, adds, “The beta prototype design has been influenced by data generated by the alpha, feedback from hundreds of potential customers, as well as from discussions with industry leading consultants. We are very excited about the design features of the beta and believe the changes from the alpha puts our technology and the Company in the best possible position to make an impact on our targeted markets. The funds from the $5.7M financing has enabled us to further ramp up our product development efforts. Specifically, the financing will allow us to continue hiring talented individuals both on the engineering and biology side of the company, as well as within our marketing department to manage beta customer relations. Over the coming months, we will continue to optimize the instrument’s fluidic protocols, our sample preparation chemistry and cartridge, and our master mix for genetic amplification. We will also continue to increase the number of validated pathogen-specific tests developed for our instrument, continue to acquire more test samples and present data in the near future. I’m very optimistic on what lies ahead for LexaGene.”
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About LexaGene Holdings Inc.
LexaGene is a biotechnology company developing the very first fully automated pathogen detection platform that is open-access, the LX6. The open-access feature will empower end-users to target any pathogen of interest, as they can load their own real-time PCR assays onto the instrument for customized pathogen detection. End-users simply need to collect a sample, load it onto the instrument with a sample preparation cartridge, and press ‘go’. The instrument is expected to offer excellent sensitivity, specificity, and breadth of pathogen detection. The instrument will be able to process six samples at a time, in an on-demand fashion, returning results in about 1 hour. The company expects to sell its technology in the food safety, veterinary diagnostics, water quality monitoring, and aquaculture pathogen surveillance markets.
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the success of technology development efforts, the cost to procure critical parts, performance of the instrument, market acceptance of the technology, regulatory acceptance, and licensing issues -- that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations as disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see ). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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