FREMONT, Calif. and KUSASTSU, Japan, – WaferGen Bio-systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: WGBS), a publicly held genomics technology company (“WaferGen”), announced that it has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement in Japan with Takara Bio Inc. (“Takara”, TSE: 4974), a leading Japanese and global biotechnology and life science reagents company. The agreement is for promotion and technical support of the ICELL8™ Single-Cell System, SmartChip™ Real-Time PCR, SmartChip™ Target Enrichment and Apollo 324™ products. WaferGen and Takara recently announced a merger agreement which is expected to close in March of 2017.

“The Asia-Pacific genomic analysis market is large and growing and WaferGen has been experiencing rapid uptake of our clinical research product line in the region,” said Rollie Carlson, President and CEO of WaferGen. “We are excited to have a strong partnership with Takara which has a leadership position in genomic research and single cell analysis, and believe that our combined solutions have the potential to rapidly accelerate adoption of our clinical research products and now the ICELL8 Single-Cell System in Japan.”

The agreement includes the full Wafergen single-cell analysis and clinical research product lines. The ICELL8 Single-Cell System is a revolutionary system for single-cell analysis. It offers the unique ability to isolate thousands of single cells, automatically identify cells of interest, and prepare single-cells for NGS analysis. The system enables groundbreaking research in the areas of cancer, neuroscience, stem cell research and immunology. The SmartChip Real-Time PCR and SmartChip Target Enrichment systems are high throughput platforms used for clinical research applications, such as fast and efficient identification of variants associated with complex disease. The Apollo 324 system is a compact, highly flexible system for automated sample preparation for NGS.

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 is a first of its kind system that can isolate thousands of single cells and processes specific cells for analysis, including Next Generation Sequencing. The system has demonstrated unbiased isolation of 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 singleplex 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.

About Takara Bio Inc.

Takara Bio Inc. operates as a biotechnology company in Japan, the United States, Asia, Europe, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Bio Industry, Gene Therapy, and AgriBio. The company develops research reagents and scientific instruments, such as restriction enzymes, PCR reagents, antibodies, cell culture media and gas-permeable bags, real-time PCR equipment, mass spectrometry systems, etc. It also provides research and contract manufacturing services comprising genome analysis, DNA chip analysis, IPS cell contract production services, cell processing and preparation, vector production, safety testing, technical support services for cancer immunotherapy, etc. In addition, the company engages in the development of various gene therapies across a range of indications including oncology and immune deficiencies all in various stages of clinical development.