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Affymetrix Launches Consortia Design Program to Create Whole-Genome Arrays for
Plant and Animal Research Communities
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Affymetrix, Inc., today
announced that it is launching the GeneChip(R) Consortia Design Program, a
collaborative initiative that will bring Affymetrix and plant and animal
research communities together to create novel whole-genome arrays. Under the new
program, Affymetrix will underwrite the design fees required to produce the new
arrays, putting industry-standard GeneChip technology within reach of virtually
any research community.
Genomic community groups have already embraced this new initiative and there are
currently plans to produce 12 new array designs under the Consortia Design
Program this year: wheat, rice, poplar, corn, pig, cow, chicken, grape, soy,
tomato, cotton and citrus.
"We have selected Affymetrix as our microarray platform of choice for the Vitis
(grape) microarray consortia because Affymetrix GeneChip arrays are robust,
reliable, easy to use, highly reproducible, and cost-effective," said John C.
Cushman, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno and
a member of the International Grape Genome Consorita. "Affymetrix arrays use 11
probe pairs of 25 mers per transcript giving multiple independent measurements
of hybridization. Multiple probe pairs offer the best specificity without
compromising sensitivity, and are more accurate than a single longer oligo
measurement. Not only will the data quality be extremely high, but a single
platform within the Vitis community will allow any number of data comparisons to
be made within and across laboratories."
Affymetrix has worked closely with genomic community groups worldwide for
several years, developing Drosophila, Pseuodomonas, Arabidopsis, Barley, Xenopus
and Zebrafish whole-genome arrays via the catalog and CustomExpress(TM)
programs. By waiving the array design fee and helping these groups with sequence
selection and other design issues, the Consortia Design Program will offer
genomic community groups an opportunity to consolidate their sequence data on
the Affymetrix industry standard array platform.
"The rapidly growing number of sequences for a wide variety of organisms, the
increasing popularity of the GeneChip array system and the success of our other
collaborative designs contributed to our decision to start the consortia
program," said Lianne McLean, Director, Gene Expression Marketing, Affymetrix.
"Perhaps the biggest factor is the way that our arrays are being embraced by the
academic community. Over 2,000 peer reviewed papers have been published using
Affymetrix technology, with over 1,000 published just last year alone."
Past consortia designs have shown that Affymetrix collaborative design process
helps ensure that the content on the array is as comprehensive as possible and
meets the communities' needs. Additionally, engaging the worldwide community in
the design effort has prompted researchers to include previously unpublished EST
data, increasing the total amount of information available and improving the
quality of the final design.
All content and annotations from the Consortia Design Program arrays will be
hosted in the NetAffx Data Analysis Center at http://www.affymetrix.com/. This
online resource integrates access to the data generated by Affymetrix' GeneChip
arrays with biological information available in a broad range of public and
private databases. Regular annotation updates will be provided by Affymetrix at
no cost to these communities.
About Affymetrix:
Affymetrix is a pioneer in creating breakthrough tools that are driving the
genomic revolution. By applying the principles of semiconductor technology to
the life sciences, Affymetrix develops and commercializes systems that enable
scientists to improve the quality of life. The Company's customers include
pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrichemical, diagnostics and consumer products
companies as well as academic, government and other non-profit research
institutes. Affymetrix offers an expanding portfolio of integrated products and
services, including its integrated GeneChip(R) platform, to address growing
markets focused on understanding the relationship between genes and human
health. Additional information on Affymetrix can be found at
http://www.affymetrix.com/.
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, including, but not limited to
risks of the Company's ability to achieve and sustain higher levels of revenue,
higher gross margins, reduced operating expenses, uncertainties relating to
technological approaches, manufacturing, product development, market acceptance
(including uncertainties relating to product development and market acceptance
of the GeneChip(R) Consortia Design Program), personnel retention, uncertainties
related to cost and pricing of Affymetrix products, dependence on collaborative
partners, uncertainties relating to sole source suppliers, uncertainties
relating to FDA and other regulatory approvals, competition, risks relating to
intellectual property of others and the uncertainties of patent protection and
litigation. These and other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2002 and other SEC reports, including its
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarterly periods. Affymetrix
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to
reflect any change in Affymetrix' expectations with regard thereto or any change
in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any such statements are based.
NOTE: Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, and GeneChip are registered trademarks
owned or used by Affymetrix, Inc.
DATASOURCE: Affymetrix
CONTACT: Media, Wes Conard, Associate Director, Public Relations,
+1-408-731-5791, or Investors, Doug Farrell, Vice President, Investor
Relations, +1-408-731-5285, both of Affymetrix
Web site: http://www.affymetrix.com/