Company News: Page (1) of 1 - 03/09/10

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HOLLISTON, Mass., March 9, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harvard Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:HBIO), a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialized products used to advance life science research, today announced the launch of its ORGANIZER™ Series Model 100 "In Breath" bioreactor. This bioreactor was used to grow the bronchus used in the landmark clinical transplantation performed by Professor Paolo Macchiarini of the Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain.

A photo accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7191

David Green, President of HBIO, commented, "This bioreactor allows Harvard Bioscience to pursue new opportunities within the emerging field of regenerative medicine. The cost of a major organ transplant is estimated to be roughly $180,000 per procedure in the USA. These economics are causing an increasing amount of research to provide better medical solutions. Harvard Bioscience's strategy in the regenerative medicine market is to supply tools to researchers and clinicians. We have also recently announced our intention to seek FDA approval to sell a version of our core syringe pump technology for use on humans. That product is designed to provide cell therapy by injecting stem cells for the repair of damaged organs."

Harvard Bioscience believes that this bioreactor will make possible a wide range of research, and potentially clinical, applications of tissue engineered hollow organs. Other hollow organs that we believe are of interest to researchers include trachea and blood vessels.

This bioreactor is the first in a series of products that Harvard Bioscience is developing to address what we believe is a long-term growth opportunity in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is a new field that uses stem cells to repair damaged organs (e.g., spinal cord and heart) and also to grow tissue (e.g., bladder and bronchus) and organs (e.g., heart and lung) outside the body for transplant.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in its report, "2020 Vision – A Future for Regenerative Medicine" states:

"This revolutionary technology has the potential to develop therapies for previously untreatable diseases and conditions. Examples of diseases that regenerative medicine can cure include diabetes, heart disease, renal failure, osteoporosis and spinal cord injuries." and "The current world market for replacement organ therapies is in excess of $350 billion and the projected US market for regenerative medicine is estimated at $100 billion."

The use of the bioreactor for the world's first human transplant of a regenerated airway was reported in the leading medical journal, The Lancet, in November 2008*. The bioreactor itself was developed by Dr. Sara Mantero and Adelaide Asnaghi of the Department of Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy. The intellectual property is exclusively licensed to Harvard Bioscience. U.S. patents are pending.

In this surgery Professor Macchiarini and colleagues removed a trachea from a human cadaver, decellularized it (i.e., removed all cellular material leaving the extra cellular matrix scaffold behind) and, using the bioreactor, recellularized the scaffold with adult stem cells cultured from a biopsy of the patient's own tissue. After four days in the bioreactor the tissue engineered airway was implanted in the patient replacing her defective left main bronchus. The patient made a full recovery, showed a substantial improvement in quality of life and showed no immune rejection of the new airway.

The "In Breath" bioreactor is available for sale through all Harvard Apparatus subsidiaries worldwide. Please call your local sales office for details. In the USA please call 1-508-893- 8999.

* Clinical transplantation of a tissue engineered airway, Macchiarini et al, The Lancet, November 19^th 2008.    

The "In Breath" bioreactor showing the recellularized trachea scaffold used to replace the patient's defective left main bronchus.

About Harvard Bioscience

Harvard Bioscience ("HBIO") is a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialized products, primarily apparatus and scientific instruments, used to advance life science research at pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities and government laboratories worldwide. HBIO sells its products to thousands of researchers in over 100 countries primarily through its 850 page catalog (and various other specialty catalogs), its website, through distributors, including GE Healthcare, Thermo Fisher Scientific and VWR, and via our field sales organization. HBIO has sales and manufacturing operations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain with additional facilities in France and Canada. For more information, please visit www.harvardbioscience.com.

The Harvard Bioscience, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6426

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. You can identify these statements by our use of such words as "will," "guidance," "objectives," "optimistic," "potential," "future,"  "expects," "plans," "estimates," "continue," "drive," "strategy," "potential," "potentially," "growth," "long-term," "projects," "projected," "intends," "believes," "goals," "sees," "seek," "develop" "possible" "new," "emerging," "opportunity," "pursue" and similar expressions that do not relate to historical matters. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, but are not limited to, statements or inferences about the Company's or management's beliefs or expectations, the field of regenerative medicine, opportunities or potential opportunities in the field of regenerative medicine, the Company's business strategy, the positioning of the Company for growth, the market demand and opportunity for the Company's current products or products it is developing or intends to develop, and the Company's plans, objectives and intentions that are not historical facts. 

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include the Company's failure to successfully expand its product offerings, introduce new products or commercialize new technologies, including in the field of regenerative medicine, decreased demand for the Company's products, including products in the field of regenerative medicine, due to changes in our customers' needs, our ability to obtain regulatory approvals, including FDA approval, for our products, including any products in the field of regenerative medicine, the current size or anticipated size of the regenerative medicine market, the existence and size of opportunities in the regenerative medicine market, our financial position, general economic outlook or other circumstances, overall economic trends, our ability to manage our growth, competition from our competitors, technological changes resulting in our products becoming obsolete, our ability to protect our intellectual property and operate without infringing on others' intellectual property, potential costs of any lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property, research funding levels from endowments at our university customers, plus factors described under the heading "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 or described in the Company's other public filings. The Company's results may also be affected by factors of which the Company is not currently aware. The Company may not update these forward-looking statements, even though its situation may change in the future, unless it has obligations under the federal securities laws to update and disclose material developments related to previously disclosed information.

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CONTACT: Harvard Bioscience, Inc.
David Green, President
dgreen@harvardbioscience.com
Chane Graziano, CEO
cgraziano@harvardbioscience.com
Tom McNaughton, CFO
tmcnaughton@harvardbioscience.com
508 893 8999
Fax: 508 429 8478

The Investor Relations Group, Inc.
James Carbonara
jcarbonara@investorrelationsgroup.com
Adam Holdsworth
aholdsworth@investorrelationsgroup.com
212-825-3210
11 Stone St. 3rd Floor
New York, NY

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