Anticancer Drugs Can Easily and Quickly be Screened and Cell Division Explored with Guava Technologies' New Cell Cycle Test.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

HAYWARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2003

Guava Technologies, a biotechnology company, announces a new single cell test/assay that provides biologists with an easy, quick and affordable way to obtain a detailed and quantitative profile of each phase of cell division. Using a minimal number of cells, the Guava Cell Cycle Assay enables researchers to rapidly screen drug compounds or explore key pathways controlling cell growth and death. This new assay is designed to run on Guava Technologies' easy-to-use, affordable, single-cell analysis systems for the benchtop, the Guava PCA (2003 version) and PCA-96.

"Using the Guava instrument, we can quickly obtain cell cycle distribution data from human cancer cell lines using very small numbers of cells, permitting us to monitor cell cycle arrest or perturbations in the process of cell division in response to various anti-neoplastic (anti-cancer) drugs," said Dr. William Nelson, Associate Professor of Oncology at John Hopkins University and a member of Guava's Scientific Advisory Board.

Following easy set-up and data collection, researchers can quickly assess the percentage of cells at each phase of the cell cycle (G0/G1, S and G2/M). This data can be used to rapidly screen drug compounds for their effects on cell division, as well as for many other research applications. Data generated by the Guava PCA system can be exported automatically to a spreadsheet for further examination. In addition, raw data files can be read directly by third-party software, accommodating the needs of scientists wishing to use their familiar curve-fitting algorithms of choice.

"The new Guava cell cycle screening assay enables scientists to quickly assess the status of their cell culture, at their benchtop, using fewer cells than most commonly used systems," said Philippe Goix, Founder and CTO of Guava Technologies, Inc.

Guava's Cell Cycle Assay, like the company's other Guava PCA assays, requires only minimal numbers of cells, Guava's assay-specific, easy-to-use software, and the ultra-compact, benchtop instrument. In addition, Guava's turnkey approach to delivering sophisticated cell-based assays results in both minimal training and significant acceleration of performing assays and getting their results.

The Guava PCA

The Guava PCA systems simplify cell analysis in a single, powerful benchtop system that scientists in the lab can use with less than one day of training requiring only a few microliters of sample volume, saving precious and expensive cells, reagents, and compounds. The Guava PCA systems are flexible, highly affordable, and ultra-compact. Unlike traditional cell analysis systems, the Guava PCA systems produce high-content, single cell analysis from a single well or tube right at the benchtop. This gives researchers comprehensive test results--fast--thus streamlining the entire R&D and drug discovery process.

About Guava Technologies

Based in Hayward, California, Guava Technologies is a biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and markets patented, integrated cellular analysis systems for the life science researcher's benchtop. The company is revolutionizing the way that cell culture monitoring and cell screening assays are performed, by providing highly miniaturized microliter scale systems that make common assays in cell-based analysis accessible at the benchtop. Guava's products have broad applications to life sciences research, drug discovery and biopharmaceutical production today, but also offer potential for use in clinical testing and blood processing, as well as other areas where single cell analysis is important. More information about the company and its products is available at www.guavatechnologies.com.

Note to Editors: Guava is a registered trademark of Guava Technologies, Inc. PCA and PCA-96 are trademarks of Guava Technologies, Inc.