PITTSBURGH, April 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Precision Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: AIPT) (“Precision” or “the
Company”) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Helomics® Corporation (Helomics), which provides personalized
medicine solutions and boutique CRO services for clients in the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and
biotechnology industries, and SpeciCare, an innovative Georgia-based company connecting cancer patients to new treatment
options only available through storing the patient’s live tumor tissue, have signed an agreement for Helomics to provide CRO
services and its D-CHIP artificial intelligence (AI) platform for a functional precision medicine study sponsored by SpeciCare.
“SpeciCare is at the forefront of a renewed interest in functional precision medicine, which has been core to our personalized
oncology approach for many years. We are excited to work with SpeciCare on their PIONEER initiative study, which will utilize
Helomics’ core functional precision medicine technology of live tumor drug profiling assays (TruTumor™) and genomic profiling
coupled with our AI-driven bioinformatics platform, D-CHIP,” commented Gerald J. Vardzel Jr., president of Helomics. “This
collaboration further demonstrates the value of our CRO services and D-CHIP platform, both to generate revenue, and advance
personalized medicine to improve patient treatment and outcomes.”
Functional precision medicine goes beyond pure genomics to test live tumor tissue from the patient with a variety of approaches
that interrogate how the tumor behaves, such as when challenged with potential therapies. Traditional genomics-only approaches
often do not provide clinically actionable results outside of a handful of approved genomic biomarkers and associated drugs,
limiting clinicians’ options for individualizing therapy.
Dr Ken Dixon, Founder and CEO of SpeciCare said, “Our PIONEER initiative study aims to demonstrate the value of functional
precision medicine approaches on living tissue stored from the patient, to better connect patients to new treatment options.
Partnering with Helomics, who have over a decade of experience in testing living tumor tissue, aligns well with these study
goals.”
“We continue to enable AI and data-driven precision medicine and welcome the opportunity to provide CRO services to SpeciCare,”
said Dr. Carl Schwartz, CEO of Precision Therapeutics. “We envision this PIONEER study will demonstrate the added value of
the functional precision medicine approach for clinicians and anticipate more such collaborations to help bring true personalized
medicine to patients worldwide.”
About Precision Therapeutics Inc.
Precision Therapeutics applies artificial intelligence to rich data gathered from patient tumors to both
personalize cancer therapies for patients and drive the development of new targeted therapies in partnership with pharmaceutical
companies. Additionally, the company provides automated fluid waste disposal systems for hospitals and clinics.
For additional information, please visit www.precisiontherapeutics.com.
About SpeciCare
B4CC Inc., doing business as SpeciCare, is an innovative company connecting cancer patients to new treatment options only available
through storing the patient’s live tumor tissue. Serving as the missing link connecting routine clinical care to the most advanced
medical treatments and the research community, SpeciCare’s goal is to arm patients with new options and innovative solutions that
enhance their quality of life and improve their chances of survival. SpeciCare serves as a catalyst in the development of the
cancer treatment field and utilization of research for the benefit of the cancer patient. For more information, please visit
specicare.com or call 833- 242-2873.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the matters discussed in the press release contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and
uncertainties in the Company’s business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements
made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include (i) risks related to the recent merger with Helomics, including the fact that the
combined company will not be able to continue operating without additional financing; possible failure to realize anticipated
benefits of the merger; costs associated with the merger may be higher than expected; the merger may result in disruption of the
Company’s and Helomics’ existing businesses, distraction of management and diversion of resources; and the market price of the
Company’s common stock may decline as a result of the merger; (ii) risks related to our partnerships with other companies,
including the need to negotiate the definitive agreements; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of these partnerships;
and costs of providing funding to our partner companies, which may never be repaid or provide anticipated returns; and (iii) other
risks and uncertainties relating to the Company that include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need
for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may
include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; sales cycles that can
be longer than expected, resulting in delays in projected sales or failure to make such sales; uncertain willingness and ability of
customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by
our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any
legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior
management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our
technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications
necessary to develop products; Precision’s ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its
technology; Precision’s ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any
strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory
clearances applicable to applications of Precision’s technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that
may be detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov.
This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of Precision’s financial position. See
Precision’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other filings at www.sec.gov.
Media Contact:
Jules Abraham
CORE IR
917-885-7378
julesa@coreir.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Bret Shapiro, Managing Partner
CORE IR
(516) 222-2560
brets@coreir.com
