TruTag Authentication Technology Wins Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Innovation of The Year Award

HONOLULU, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- TruTag Technologies, a spinout of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., was selected as the 2010 North American Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Innovation of the Year by Frost & Sullivan.  TruTag™ microtags ('TruTags') are secure, optically encoded micro-crystals made of pure, nanoporous silica, which is deemed "Generally Regarded as Safe, or (GRAS)" by the FDA.  Therefore, TruTags are edible and can be used to authenticate and identify medicine, food and numerous other solid or liquid products.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/cellularbioengineering/40560/

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100316/MM70028 )

Counterfeit goods and drugs pose a real threat to consumer safety as well as to companies whose brands are compromised and profits stolen.  "We are pleased to recognize TruTags as an innovative and comprehensive security solution for maintaining the integrity of drug supplies," said Research Analyst, Misty Hughes of Frost & Sullivan.  "Our independent research teams found that the ability of TruTags to integrate security at the pill level by using a spectral signature chosen from over a trillion possible codes was a distinctive and cost-effective security solution to the problem of fake prescription medicines, which totals $30 to $50 billion annually."  

With TruTag technology each tag contains a custom-manufactured 'spectral signature' chosen from over one trillion possibilities. The unique choice of tag signature and product combination is the TruTag key to confirming the authenticity of the product, yet tagging each item costs less than a small fraction of a penny.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Award recognizes companies in a variety of markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

"The unique properties of the TruTag technology platform—edible, covert, resistant to high heat, and able to be mixed into a coating, dye or ink—lends itself to a wide variety of applications and industries, including medicine, dietary supplements, cosmetics, textiles, electronics and luxury goods," said  Michael O'Neill, PhD, CTO of TruTag Technologies.  

"We are spinning out TruTag Technologies as an independent company in order to focus on developing a full spectrum of market applications for the TruTag platform," said Hank Wuh, MD, MPH, CEO of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., the parent company of TruTag Technologies, "TruTag™ microtags will have a fundamental impact on optimizing product safety and integrity for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and functional foods industry."

TruTag Technologies joins other prestigious and innovative 2010 Frost & Sullivan award winners, such as Covance Inc., Game Ready, Immunomic Therapeutics, ISTA Pharmaceuticals, Millipore Corporation, Molecular Biometrics, MannKind Corporation, Oridion Systems Ltd., Positron Corporation, and ResMed.  

About TruTag Technologies

TruTag Technologies is a new life sciences technology company spun out from Cellular Bioengineering, Inc., and is focused on applying its unique, edible spectral microtags for physical verification of authentic products.  TruTags are edible and biologically inert, inconspicuous (50-100 microns), require no energy input or output, and are resistant to high heat (melting point above 1600 degrees C). Please go to www.trutags.com for more information. To read the independent research paper prepared by Frost & Sullivan as part of the award selection process, go to http://trutags.com/news.php.

About Cellular Bioengineering, Inc. (CBI)

CBI invents, develops, and acquires disruptive technologies to transform novel ideas and innovations into commercial products.  The Company has an Intellectual Property portfolio of over 25 patents and patent applications.  Other divisions of CBI include:

DeconGel™ is a commercialized product with superior efficacy for the containment and decontamination of radioactive, nuclear, and chemical spills, with additional applications in industrial cleaning and environmental management. www.decongel.com.

Eyegenix™ owns the global commercial rights to an artificial cornea technology which holds the promise of returning sight to 10 million people worldwide who are blind from corneal disease.

E Canary is a bio sensor comprised of living cardiac cells on a CCD chip which can detect both known and unknown harmful threats in the environment such as chemical contaminants and biologic weapons.

Please go to www.cellularbioengineering.com  for further information.

TRUTAG, DECONGEL, EYEGENIX and INVENT. DISRUPT. INSPIRE. are trademarks of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc.  Copyright © 2010 Cellular Bioengineering, Inc.  All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Cellular Bioengineering Inc.