BOTHELL, Wash., May 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLFS), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary clinical grade cell and tissue hypothermic storage and cryopreservation freeze media and a related cloud hosted biologistics cold chain management app for smart shippers, announced that on May 1^st, it was named Washington State Manufacturer of the Year, for the small firm category by Seattle Business Magazine.

The Washington Manufacturing Awards gala was held at the Museum of Flight. The event attracted 300 business leaders from across the state. The diversity of this year's finalists —which included companies that make everything from RFID tags to bakery equipment —demonstrates the breadth and depth of the state's industrial base.

BioLife Solutions has built a franchise in the regenerative medicine market by gaining a critical mass of cell therapy customers including most of the private and public immuno-oncology companies developing various T cell immunotherapies to treat blood cancers and solid tumors. To date, BioLife's CryoStor^® and HypoThermosol^® biopreservation media products have been embedded into more than 200 pre-clinical validations and clinical trials of novel cell based products and therapies targeting the leading causes of death and disability. Through its biologistex™ joint venture with SAVSU Technologies, BioLife is marketing the evo™ Smart Shipper and related biologistex cold chain management SaaS app.

Mike Rice, BioLife's President & CEO, remarked, "This is an incredible honor for the entire BioLife team.  We're committed to doing all we can to improve biologic-based medicine. It's very satisfying to see our commitment to quality and customer service be recognized.  The other award winning companies are very impressive and it's great to be counted among these leading manufacturing companies in Washington."

About Seattle Business:

Seattle Business is a monthly magazine read by more than 100,000 business executives across the state. Annual events tied to its editorial coverage include the Executive Excellence Awards, Leaders in Health Care Awards, Washington Manufacturing Awards, 100 Best Companies to Work For Awards, Community Impact Awards, Tech Impact Awards, Retail Nexus and Family Business Awards. Seattle Business is owned by Minneapolis-based Tiger Oak Media, which also publishes Seattle magazine, Seattle Bride magazine and more than 20 other leading regional magazines.

About BioLife Solutions:

The Company's proprietary HypoThermosol^® and CryoStor^® platform of solutions are highly valued in the biobanking, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine markets. BioLife's biopreservation media products are serum-free and protein-free, fully defined, and are formulated to reduce preservation-induced cell damage and death.  BioLife's enabling technology provides commercial companies and clinical researchers significant improvement in shelf life and post-preservation viability and function of cells, tissues, and organs.  BioLife also performs contract aseptic media formulation, fill, and finish services. For more information please visit www.biolifesolutions.com, and follow BioLife on Twitter.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements concerning new products, the company's anticipated business and operations, the potential utility of and market for its products and services, potential revenue growth and market expansion, and, projected financial results and liquidity. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including among other things, uncertainty regarding market adoption of products; uncertainty regarding third party market projections; market volatility; competition; litigation; and those other factors described in our risk factors set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained herein or to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof, other than as may be required by applicable law.

SOURCE BioLife Solutions, Inc.