WaferGen Bio-systems Announces ICELL8(TM) Single-Cell System Placements at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Karolinska Institutet

Top-tier European Institutions to Utilize ICELL8 System for Stem Cell and Neuroscience Research

FREMONT, Calif. and LUXEMBOURG, May 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WaferGen Bio-systems (NASDAQ:WGBS) announced today that the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), an intergovernmental organization specializing in basic research in the life sciences, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden's single largest center of medical academic research, have selected the ICELL8(TM) Single-Cell System for use in their institutions. The system will be used for driving innovative single-cell research in the areas of stem cell and neuroscience research.

"The ability to assess thousands of single cells and select cells of interest with high confidence will provide us with greater understanding of stem cell development and differentiation," said Dr. Christophe Lancrin, Group Leader at EMBL-Monterotondo.

"We have successfully evaluated the system's performance to ensure it meets our stringent demands," said Sten Linnarsson, Professor at Karolinska Institutet. "The system will enable us to accelerate our efforts in identifying and understanding the multiple cell types of the nervous system."

"The ICELL8 Single-Cell System placements at these leading European research centers are indicative of the growing demand we are seeing for this technology throughout the U.S. and Europe from leading researchers in the field," said Rollie Carlson, President and CEO WaferGen Biosystems. "These placements represent our initial commercial foray into Europe with the ICELL8 and enhance our position in this large target market."

The ICELL8 Single-Cell System is a revolutionary platform with the ability to isolate thousands of single cells and process specific cells of interest for downstream analysis using Next Generation Sequencing. The system includes an imaging station and CellSelect(TM) software for imaging and automatic selection of single cells for downstream processing. The system's advanced single cell identification and selection provides greater confidence in single-cell analysis results.

About WaferGen
WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc. is a biotechnology company that offers innovative genomic technology solutions for single-cell analysis and clinical research.  The ICELL8(TM) Single-Cell System is a cutting edge platform which can isolate thousands of single cells and processes specific cells for analysis, including Next Generation Sequencing ("NGS"). The system has demonstrated unbiased isolation of up to 1,800 single cells ranging from 5-100 µm in size on a single chip, including single cells from solid tumors, brain cells, pulmonary airway cells, and multiple cell lines.  The SmartChip(TM) platform can be used for profiling and validating molecular biomarkers, and can perform massively parallel singleplex PCR for one-step target enrichment and library preparation for clinical NGS.  The Apollo 324(TM) system can be used to process DNA and RNA from clinical samples to NGS-ready libraries.  These technologies offer a powerful set of tools for biological analysis at the molecular and single cell level in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and clinical laboratory industries.