Protea Announces New Mass Spectrometry Services

Launches Microscope-Based Mass Spectrometry Imaging Services


MINNEAPOLIS, June 10, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Protea Biosciences Group, Inc. ("Protea") announced today that it has launched a new web-based commercial mass spectrometry service, named ProteaScope, that enables researchers to navigate across their tissue sections using high resolution microscopy to pinpoint specific morphological structures for mass spectrometry analysis. Diseases such as cancer have traditionally been diagnosed through the microscopic examination of the morphological features of tissue and cells - a technique known as histology. ProteaScope is a first-of-its-kind microscopy-driven mass spectrometry platform that provides additional levels of molecular information to complement traditional histologic examination. Based on Protea's LAESI® technology, exclusively licensed from George Washington University, the new platform was developed through the integration of fiber optics, LAESI, and high resolution microscopy and mass spectrometry.

The Company made the announcement today at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry in Minneapolis, MN.

ProteaScope will be offered through the Company's services division, ProteaWorks, which provides researchers access to the Company's state of the art mass spectrometry infrastructure and expert staff. The ProteaScope service workflow starts by the researcher submitting their tissue samples and scheduling a ProteaScope session. Through this web-based session, the researcher will be able to view their tissue samples through a high-resolution microscope to identify morphologic features of interest and navigate the LAESI fiber optic tip to that location. Once identified, biomolecular information will be captured by a mass spectrometry analysis. Following the session, the researcher will receive a report containing the high-resolution microscopy images and mass spectra data from their ProteaScope session.

Steve Turner, President and CEO of Protea, commented, "We are pleased to announce the availability of ProteaScope services. It has been a dream of clinical medicine to identify biomolecules directly in tissue samples without having to touch the tissue, and the ProteaScope platform enables this." Turner continued, "Protea is the leader in the mass spectrometry imaging market, and ProteaScope fulfills our vision to integrate mass spectrometry with the traditional methods of microscopy and histology. The breadth and flexibility of our core LAESI technology and our work with Dr. Akos Vertes, co-inventor of LAESI, have been integral to the development of ProteaScope. We look forward to working with customers as they take advantage of our expert staff, extensive mass spectrometry imaging infrastructure and the ProteaScope platform."

About Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.

Protea is a technology leader in the field of mass spectrometry ("mass spec") molecular imaging - the identification and localization of the molecular products of living cells, that is foundational science for all pharmaceutical, medical, and life science research.

Protea website: www.proteabio.com

About ProteaScope: https://proteabio.com/ASMS2013/ProteaScope

About LAESI-MS (Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization)

LAESI-MS (Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry) was invented in the laboratory of Akos Vertes, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry at The George Washington University and exclusively licensed to Protea. LAESI enables rapidly obtaining mass spectrometry data profiles of the biomolecules present in cells. LAESI analysis can be performed on tissue sections identical to those used in traditional histological staining and examination. Without the need for time-consuming sample preparation that can lead to sample loss and contamination, LAESI-MS allows for direct, rapid, and reproducible data, which decreases both the time and cost to obtain mass spec imaging data.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain 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. All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as "anticipate," "if," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "could," "should," "will," and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release and we are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that could potentially materially affect the Company's financial results, are contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Protea and LAESI are registered trademarks of Protea Biosciences Group, Inc.



            

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