SQI Diagnostics Contracted to Automate Pathogen Detection Assays

TORONTO, Aug. 22, 2014 /CNW/ - SQI Diagnostics Inc. (TSX-V: SQD), a life sciences company that develops and commercializes proprietary technologies and products for advanced microarray diagnostics, today 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 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.

The first assay being automated is used to identify pathogens in raw milk from dairy cows. Currently, dairy cows are routinely tested for health through a global network of laboratories and when symptoms of bacterial infections appear, pathogens are commonly detected using traditional plate cultures.  The new application can be used for much faster and more accurate identification of multiple pathogens simultaneously. The UK-based company is developing additional assays for agriculture, food safety and human pathogen testing, intended to screen high volumes of samples on a regular basis.

"As we've explored this opportunity, we've been impressed by the compatibility and synergy of our new customer's high-performance molecular diagnostic technology with our automated multiplexing assay technologies," said Andrew Morris, CEO of SQI Diagnostics. "Although our automated systems have been developed to run our own protein-based IVD and pharma assays, our technology solution is highly adaptable to other types of tests and this presents a valuable additional market opportunity where our technologies can be applied with the potential for significant test volumes and revenue."

About SQI Diagnostics
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.

Forward-looking Information
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "will", "expects", "intends" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to risks related to the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, general economic and market segment conditions, and international risk and currency exchange, agreements and future agreements to sell our products, the success of our Diagnostic Tools and Services business and our intent to build near-term revenue streams from this business, the successful regulatory filing and receipt of regulatory approvals for our later stage quantitative diagnostic kits, the acceleration of our revenue ramp, general economic and market segment conditions, competitor activity, technology changes and regulatory approvals. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

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SOURCE: SQI Diagnostics Inc.

Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Morris, 416.674.9500 ext. 229, [email protected]; VP Corporate Development, James Smith, 416.674.9500 ext. 241, [email protected]