Pressure BioSciences Inc. (PBIO) is almost ready to pop.
Executives at the Easton, Mass.-based manufacturer, which is marketing high-pressure devices to control bio-molecular interactions, said they anticipate soon signing a strategic marketing and distribution agreement with a large, multi-national life sciences company. They also are continuing to work on deals addressing the company’s capital needs.
The bottom line: “This is a wonderful time to be a stakeholder in PBI,” according to CEO Richard Schumacher.
The optimistic assessment was delivered as PBIO reported a $754,180 net loss on $317,427 in revenues during the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with a $1,107,686 loss on $265,662 in revenues a year ago.
The 19 percent revenues increase was supported by Pressure BioSciences placing a most-ever 20 BaroCycler instruments with clients during the recent quarter, up from 17 devices in 2008. All but one of the 2009 sales were with domestic clients, a significant change from third-quarter 2008 activity when eight BaroCyclers were shipped to other countries.
During the quarter, the company and Lexington, Mass.-based Protein Forest Inc. inked a collaborative research and development deal that also includes joint marketing and sales efforts at trade shows, industry publications and on the companies’ respective websites.
The BaroCycler subjects protein samples to up to 35,000 psi, accelerating the digestion and extraction of protein from cells — a key step in preparing the samples for mass spectrometry.
Company officials also said they are successfully holding down costs while still working to boost sales. Excluding certain non-cash expenses, Pressure BioSciences used $603,000 during the recent third quarter, a 39 percent improvement to its cash burn from year-ago levels.
The firm had nearly $1.4 million in cash on hand at the end of the quarter. PBIO did not detail its current fund-raising efforts, although securities documents filed after Pressure BioSciences banked $1.8 million from a private placement of stock and warrants in February show that it still hoped to sell another $1.7 million in stock.