Affymetrix Announces Expansion of QuantiGene® ViewRNA License for in vitro Diagnostics & Becomes Exclusive Licensee for Chro...

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) today announced the expansion of its license agreement with Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics for the company’s branched DNA (bDNA) technology whereby Affymetrix is the exclusive licensee for in situ products, including in vitro diagnostics. This expanded license grants Affymetrix rights to develop and sell in situ QuantiGene® ViewRNA products, currently for research use only, in the in vitro diagnostic market. Additionally, this license includes exclusive rights to alkaline phosphatase conjugated oligonucleotides and their use in bDNA methods for in situ detection utilizing Fast Red substrates. In light of this expanded license, along with existing technology and other recently announced collaborations, such as the research collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, the automation collaboration with Leica Microsystems, and the worldwide distribution of ScreenCell’s circulating tumor cell technology, Affymetrix plans to commercialize a platform of total solutions involving an assay menu of chromogenic-based applications of the bDNA technology which provide highly sensitive, multiplex analyses in both brightfield (CISH) and fluorescence (FISH) microscopy and options for automation.

“This agreement provides Affymetrix with an important opportunity to enable clinical researchers and pathologists using advanced histo-staining techniques to combine the anatomical analysis with a molecular-level understanding. Advanced in situ RNA hybridization methods applied to formalin fixed paraffin-embedded [FFPE], fine-needle aspirates [FNAs], and other clinical samples have the potential of becoming powerful new tools to translate biomarker signatures to diagnostics that enable clinicians to personalize patient care,” stated George Bers, Vice President and General Manager of Gene Expression Business Unit - Panomics at Affymetrix. “These predictable, two-plex, highly-sensitive and specific chromogenic assays help move the analysis to the next level by literally analyzing any expressed gene at the single transcript per single cell level.”

Affymetrix currently offers a broad range of bDNA technology based assays, including QuantiGene®, QuantiGene® Plex, and QuantiGene® ViewRNA, for single and multiplex in situ tissue, in situ cellular, and direct-from-sample, quantitative RNA and DNA copy number variation analyses. These assays are used for biomarker discovery and validation applications in drug discovery, early phase clinical trials, pathology, translational sciences, and cancer research as well as other disease-related research.

PLEASE NOTE: Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, GeneChip, QuantiGene and all other trademarks are the property of Affymetrix, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About Affymetrix

Affymetrix technologies are used by the world's top pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotechnology companies, as well as leading academic, government, and nonprofit research institutes. More than 26,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published citing the technologies. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and has manufacturing facilities in Santa Clara, San Diego, Cleveland, Ohio, Singapore, and Austria. The company has about 1,180 employees worldwide and maintains sales and distribution operations across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit www.affymetrix.com.

Forward-looking statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as amended, including statements regarding Affymetrix' "expectations," "beliefs," "hopes," "intentions," "strategies" or the like. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially for Affymetrix from those projected. These and other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, and other SEC reports for subsequent quarterly periods.