FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 09, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WaferGen Bio-systems (Nasdaq:WGBS), a life sciences tools company focused on developing and commercializing technology platforms for genomics solutions, announced today that three oral presentations and a poster at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) 2016 General Meeting will present results from early access collaborators using the company’s ICELL8™ Single-Cell System. WaferGen will also host a single-cell key opinion leader dinner event on Thursday, February 11th, during which select WaferGen collaborators will discuss their research work utilizing the company’s technology.  WaferGen will be at AGBT 2016 in the Marbella 4 suite for meetings and product demonstrations.

“We first demonstrated the significant potential of our single-cell analysis technology on the SmartChip™ platform at AGBT 2015.  We are extremely pleased that, just one year later, we have launched our commercial single-cell product, the ICELL8™ Single-Cell System, and all four of our early access collaborators will present results obtained using our technology at the AGBT 2016 Meeting,” said Rolland Carlson, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of WaferGen Bio-systems. “The breadth of their conclusions, across multiple areas of clinical research at this key industry meeting, serves as important validation to the performance and innovation that our ICELL8™ Single-Cell System provides to the single-cell market.”

The results will demonstrate the system’s ability to isolate thousands of single cells, select specific cells of interest and prepare high quality RNA-Seq libraries for Next Generation Sequencing applications in the fields of neuroscience, respiratory disease and cancer.  Single cells from solid tumors, brains cells, pulmonary airway cells, multiple cell lines, and nuclei, from 5 to 100 µm in size, can be isolated and dispensed without bias using the system.

Key AGBT conference presentations include:
Dr. Sten Linnarsson, Karolinska Institutet
Molecular Anatomy of the Mouse Brain by Single-Cell RNA-Seq
Transcriptomics Concurrent Session
Thursday, February 11, 7:30-7:50pm

Dr. Max Seibold, National Jewish Health
Large-Scale Single-Cell Transcriptome Sequencing of the Human Airway Epithelium
Transcriptomics Concurrent Session
Thursday, February 11, 8:30-8:50pm

Dr. Somasekar Seshagiri, Genentech
Comprehensive Analysis of Tumors at Whole Tissue to Single-Cell Level
Cancer Concurrent Session
Friday, February 12, 7:30-7:50pm

A joint poster will be presented by Dr. Maithreyan Srinivasan, Chief Technology Officer of WaferGen Bio-systems, and Dr. Nicholas Navin, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Poster number 606, “ICELL8™ – A versatile Single-Cell Processing System Using Nanowell Technology” will highlight system performance and latest developments.

A single-cell-Luminaries dinner event on Thursday, February 11th, will include presentations focused on the system, workflow and results. Speakers at the event will include:

Dr. Sten Linnarsson, Karolinska Institutet
Dr. Max Seibold, National Jewish Health
Dr. Zora Modrusan, Genentech

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™ Single-Cell System can isolate thousands of single cells and process specific cells for analysis, including Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The system has demonstrated unbiased isolation of up to 1,800 single cells, regardless of cell size, 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™ platform can be used for profiling and validating molecular biomarkers, and can perform massively-parallel single-plex PCR for one-step target enrichment and library preparation for clinical NGS. The Apollo 324™ system can be used to process DNA and RNA from clinical samples to next generation sequencing 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.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe," "expect," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seek," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate" or other comparable terms.  Forward-looking statements in this press release may address the following subjects among others: statements regarding the sufficiency of our capital resources, expected operating losses, expected revenues, expected expenses, expected cash usage, our expectations regarding our development of future products including single cell analysis technologies and our expectations concerning our competitive position and business strategy.  Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and uncertainties described in the Risk Factors and in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.  We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements.  We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.  Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

WAFERGEN CONTACTS:
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Brian Ritchie
BRitchie@LifeSciAdvisors.com

WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc.   
Rollie Carlson
Rollie.Carlson@wafergen.com

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