S&P Capital IQ Initiates Coverage on SQI Diagnostics Inc. in S&P Capital IQ Factual Stock Reports

NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Capital IQ (MHFI) announced today that it has commenced Factual Stock Report coverage on SQI Diagnostics Inc.

SQI Diagnostics Inc. (TSXV:SQD; OTCQX:SQIDF) is a life sciences and diagnostics company that develops and commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced microarray diagnostics. The company's proprietary microarray tests and fully automated systems are designed to simplify protein and antibody testing workflow, increase throughput, reduce costs and provide excellent data quality.

SQI's multiplex tests and automated platforms together form a tool for the design, development and execution of blood testing in clinical trials for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing novel drugs, as well as for regulatory cleared in vitro diagnostic (IVD) immunology testing done in reference laboratories.

The company is commercializing its technology through two principal and integrated lines of business. SQI's Diagnostic Tools and Services (DTS) business is focused primarily on drug development customers including pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and vaccine companies along with the contract research organizations (CROs) that serve them. The company believes that its custom microarray tests and automated diagnostic platforms have the potential to change the way pharmaceutical companies design and conduct their testing of biologically important markers.

SQI's business model for this market segment is to provide its customers comprehensive turnkey services including the initial rapid design, development and validation of custom multiplex test kits. The customer then contracts SQI to manufacture these custom kits for purchase and use in their pre-clinical and clinical drug trials, with testing conducted at the customer or its CRO. In some cases, SQI can also provide sample analysis performed at the company, as a service. The company says that its technology meets or exceeds all FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) guidance for immunogenicity and biosimilar test guidelines.

SQI is also advancing a pipeline of multiplexed IVD products targeting protein and antibody biomarkers relevant to autoimmune and other immunology diseases.

These tests are developed, validated and manufactured by the company for direct marketing and sales to reference labs once cleared by regulators such as the FDA. The company says that its systems and multiplexing technologies enable many tests to be completed in a single well of one of its consumable test kits at low cost and with minimal labor requirements using SQI's semi-automated or fully automated high-throughput systems.

SQI's lead IVD assay is its multiplexed Ig_plex Celiac DGP Panel, which provides clinicians with a rapid tool to quantify the levels of multiple key biomarkers associated with celiac disease.

SQI has developed a range of analytical platforms that are designed to meet the varying needs of its customers in both its DTS and IVD markets.

The company's high-throughput sqidworks* (*Trademark) Diagnostic Platform (sqidworks) is a fully automated microarray processing and analytical instrument, primarily suited for high-volume reference laboratories.

SQI's mid-range sqidlite* Bench-Top Diagnostic System (sqidlite) offers laboratories of all sizes flexible, configurable, fully automated workflow solutions for processing protein and antibody multiplexed immunoassays in both its DTS and IVD markets.

The company's sqid-X* System is a semi-automated bench-top platform that incorporates all of SQI's technology with the exception of automated fluidics handling and is targeted at early adopters; earlier stage, lower volume customers; and customers that intend to complete custom assay development work at their sites.

In November 2014, SQI Diagnostics announced that it has received notice that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the company to market its proprietary Celiac Panel in the United States (US). The company also announced that it that it has expanded its existing commercial relationship with one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.

In August 2014, the company announced that it has entered into a Master Service Agreement to contract with a UK-based company to automate their DNA-based pathogen detection assays. During the initial phase of this agreement, SQI Diagnostics will be paid to deliver an automated working prototype of one of the customer's assays, operational on SQI's sqidlite system. The initial phase is scheduled for completion by mid-September 2014. It is anticipated that other molecular diagnostic tests will be commissioned in a separate agreement following successful implementation of the initial phase.

SQI continues to focus on selling prototype products and services in its DTS business to new customers and on converting these evaluation projects to higher volume kit sales for use in clinical trial programs. New customer generation efforts are largely focused on pharmaceutical, biotech and vaccine companies that currently use single-plex immunogenicity tests in their product development activities, as well as the CROs that service the immunogenicity testing needs of pharmaceutical companies.

S&P Capital IQ's Factual Stock Report coverage on SQI Diagnostics Inc will also be accessible on an ongoing basis to the investment community by scores of buy-side institutions and sell-side firms that utilize S&P Capital IQ research and information platforms daily. Millions of self-directed investors also have access to the report via their e-brokerage accounts. Please visit http://www.sqidiagnostics.com for additional information.

About S&P Capital IQ's Factual Stock Reports

Currently profiling approximately 400 issuers, S&P Capital IQ (MHFI) Factual Stock Reports increase market awareness of issuers in the investment community with insightful commentary, key statistics, and relevant corporate information.  The Reports provide factual research coverage about company fundamentals and business prospects, thereby enabling information on the covered companies to reach a wide spectrum of Buy and Sell-side investors. Updated weekly with the latest pricing, trading volume, and other data, the Reports also capture recent company developments, a financial review, key operating information, industry and peer comparisons, Street Consensus, performance charts, business summary, fundamental data, and timely news stories. Coverage of these reports is underwritten by the issuer, therefore S&P Capital IQ does not offer investment opinions concerning the advisability of investing in these stocks.

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About SQI Diagnostics Inc.

SQI Diagnostics is a life sciences and diagnostics company that develops and commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced microarray diagnostics. The Company's proprietary microarray tests and fully-automated systems are designed to simplify protein and antibody testing workflow, increase throughput, reduce costs and provide excellent data quality. For more information, please visit www.sqidiagnostics.com.

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