Hamilton Thorne Ltd. a leading provider of advanced laser systems for the regenerative medicine and stem cell research markets announced the launch of its new Stiletto laser system. The Stiletto laser system has broad application for research with a variety of cells, allowing the company to enter new and exciting research markets, including developmental and advanced cell biology. The Stiletto laser is a novel technology that can automate the manual and tedious process of separating and removing unwanted cells from hours of work down to seconds, dramatically saving both time and money, and revolutionizing how researchers approach cell selection and therapeutic research applications.

"The new Stiletto laser addresses a significant challenge in the regenerative medicine, developmental biology and advanced cell biology markets where manual manipulation and study of stem cells can take up hours of a researcher's day. With the Stiletto, a researcher can achieve a desired result in seconds, and instead spend their time advancing therapeutic value for important diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's," said Meg Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of Hamilton Thorne Ltd. "Importantly, the Stiletto affords Hamilton Thorne the opportunity to expand into new and larger research markets beyond our foothold in regenerative medicine, stem cell research and fertility clinic markets."

The Stiletto is an elegant laser system that has the ability to gently sweep aside cells from the beam of the laser without burning or cauterizing, but also has the capacity to obliterate unwanted cells colonies within seconds. The Stiletto laser utilizes a novel approach to cell manipulation, for which Hamilton Thorne has applied for patent protection. The Stiletto laser system combines a proprietary laser and objective, controller software, and an automated stage, allowing researchers to easily perform high speed scoring and separation of stem cell colonies.

Hamilton Thorne's comprehensive line of lasers products, including the new Stiletto, operates as robotic micro-surgeons that speed key processes in regenerative cell production and development. The Company's innovative devices are the first lasers ever mounted directly inside a microscope objective, which provides advantages in speed, accuracy, ease of use and safety for the cells. Each member of the laser family serves a different research application. Simply turning the microscope turret gives the researcher a new world of capabilities such as cellular identification and manipulation, eradication of unwanted cells, and removal of cell nuclei without harm to the cell.

Hamilton Thorne is a leading provider of advanced laser systems for the regenerative medicine and stem cell research markets. Hamilton Thorne's lead products, the ZILOS-tk and XYClone laser systems, attach to standard inverted microscopes and operate as robotic micro-surgeons, significantly reducing time and increasing efficiency in key in-vitro fertilization, stem cell, and regenerative medical research applications. The new Staccato and Stiletto laser systems are designed to broaden the Company's markets and offer significant advantages to developmental biology, cancer research and advanced cell biology researchers.

Hamilton Thorne's growing customer base includes pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, fertility clinics, university research centres, and other commercial and academic research establishments worldwide. Current customers include world-leading research labs such as Harvard University, MIT, Yale, McGill University, DuPont, Monsanto, Charles River Labs, Jackson Labs, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Oxford University, and Cambridge.