Astrotech’s BreathTest-1000 Confirmed to Detect Lung Disease Metabolites at Parts Per Billion

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Astrotech Corporation [NASDAQ: ASTC] announced that the BreathTest-1000™ lung disease screening device that is under development detects a known metabolite that is associated with lung diseases at very low parts per billion (ppb) concentrations. On March 25, the Company announced that it is working on developing the BreathTest-1000™ to detect volatile organic compound metabolites present in lung diseases such as the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) and pneumonia.

“The Company just reached a milestone in its vision of providing what it believes to be a highly accurate field instrument that, subject to applicable regulatory approval, may provide lung disease testing worldwide. Today’s news is exciting because it accelerates the development process of the BreathTest-1000™ and we believe gets us closer to joining the front-line in the fight against lung diseases, such as COVID-19,” stated Thomas B. Pickens III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Astrotech Corporation.

“The Company was able to move quickly in the development of the BreathTest-1000™ because the core mass spectrometry technology it utilizes has been fully commercialized and deployed for explosives trace detection. Our goal is to satisfy all regulatory requirements for the BreathTest-1000™ as rapidly as possible once the necessary application developments are completed. We believe that few, if any, changes will need to be made to the underlying technology. We plan to devote our efforts towards developing a simple and consistent sample introduction system,” Mr. Pickens concluded.

About Astrotech Corporation

Astrotech (NASDAQ: ASTC) is a science and technology development and commercialization company that launches, manages, and builds scalable companies based on innovative technology in order to maximize shareholder value. 1st Detect develops, manufactures, and sells explosives trace detectors for use in the security and detection market. AgLAB develops, manufactures, and sells chemical analyzers for use in the agriculture market. BreathTech is developing a breath analysis tool to provide early detection of lung diseases. Astrotech is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For information, please visit www.astrotechcorp.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, trends, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from the forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, whether we can successfully develop our proprietary technologies and whether the market will accept our products and services, as well as other risk factors and business considerations described in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings including the annual report on Form 10-K. Any forward-looking statements in this document should be evaluated in light of these important risk factors. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.