Improved Cord Blood Processing Research on BioLife Solutions CryoStor® Published in TRANSFUSION

BOTHELL, Wash., Feb. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BioLife Solutions, Inc. (OTCBB: BLFS), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary clinical grade hypothermic storage and cryopreservation freeze media for cells and tissues, today announced that TRANSFUSION, the foremost publication in the world for new information regarding transfusion medicine, has published a peer-reviewed journal article reporting positive results of collaborative research on CryoStor®, BioLife's serum-free, protein-free cryopreservation freeze media.  Study conclusions include the following:

• The use of pre-formulated CryoStor reduced overall processing time, compared to an in-house formulation, which is made on demand each day
• CryoStor resulted in improved recovery of viable total nucleated cells (TNC) and CD34+ cells, a type of pluripotent stem cell found in umbilical cord blood
• The final concentration of DMSO, the main cryoprotectant in freeze media formulations, was reduced to 5% in CryoStor, compared to 10% in the in-house formulation

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The article, titled Cryopreservation of Umbilical Cord Blood with a Novel Freezing Solution that Mimics Intracellular Ionic Composition, includes comparative and correlative data on the rate of addition of freeze media to cells, exothermic temperature excursions during mixing, and post-freeze/thaw cell viability and recovery. 

The research, conducted at the Puget Sound Blood Center in Seattle, focused on comparing BioLife's pre-formulated GMP grade CryoStor cryopreservation media to an in-house formulated, traditional freeze media for umbilical cord blood stem cells. 

The findings further support the use of GMP grade CryoStor as an optimized cord blood stem cell cryopreservation reagent, and illustrate a potential additional processing time reduction using CryoStor CS10 in a fast bolus addition to cells, compared to the prevailing procedure of a slow addition of high concentrations of DMSO found in traditional freeze media formulations.

Mike Rice, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "This research continues to add to a growing foundation of published data on the performance, quality, and efficiency advantages of our proprietary biopreservation media products.  We want to thank the Puget Sound Blood Center for collaborating with us to complete this important work."

Serum-free, protein-free CryoStor is currently offered in a number of packaging alternatives, including a 16ml sterile, single-use vial, intended for 1:1 mixing with stem cells isolated from umbilical cord blood. The abstract of the journal article can be viewed at the publisher's website.

Aby J. Mathew, Ph.D., BioLife's Chief Technology Officer, added: "This study further supports our foundational scientific premise that engineered, intracellular-like biopreservation media formulations, such as our HypoThermosol® storage/shipping media and CryoStor freeze media, offer benefits to all cellular products in the way of extended shelf life and improved post-preservation cell viability, recovery, and function.  This improved performance is possible even with reduced concentrations of DMSO in CryoStor.  In comparison, traditional isotonic-based cell storage and freezing cocktails, which are variants of culture media formulations, are not optimized to support cells and tissues exposed to hypothermic temperatures which in most cases are required for effective biopreservation once removed from the body."

BioLife Solutions is committed to supporting continually evolving best practices in biopreservation in transfusion medicine and provides financial support to key scientific influence groups such as AABB, ISCT, the BEST Collaborative, and the Parents Guide to Cord Blood Foundation. 

BioLife is an exhibitor, presenter, and Gold Sponsor of the 18th ISCT Annual Meeting June 5-8, 2012, at the Seattle Sheraton.

About BioLife Solutions

BioLife Solutions develops, manufactures and markets patented hypothermic storage and cryopreservation solutions for cells and tissues.  The Company's proprietary HypoThermosol® and CryoStor® platform of solutions are marketed to academic and commercial organizations involved in cell therapy, tissue engineering, cord blood banking, drug discovery, and toxicology testing. BioLife's products are serum-free and protein-free, fully defined, and are formulated to reduce preservation-induced, delayed-onset cell damage and death.  BioLife's enabling technology provides academic and clinical researchers significant improvements in post-thaw cell, tissue, and organ viability and function.  For more information please visit www.biolifesolutions.com, and follow BioLife on Twitter.

This news release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements include any statements that relate to the intent, belief, plans or expectations of the Company or its management, or that are not a statement of historical fact.  Any forward-looking statements in this news release are based on current expectations and beliefs and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Some of the specific factors that could cause BioLife Solutions' actual results to differ materially are discussed in the Company's recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  BioLife Solutions disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this press release. 

SOURCE BioLife Solutions, Inc.