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IBM and Affymetrix Team to Deliver Tools to Accelerate Information-Based
Medicine
Initiative to Help Drive Open Standards for Integrating Genomic Research with
Clinical Patient Data
SOMERS, N.Y. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM
and Affymetrix, Inc., , today announced a global initiative to speed the
adoption of a new information-based approach to medicine. The far-reaching
collaboration is designed to help medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and
research institutions use advanced technologies to integrate genomic research
data with patient clinical data, to help reduce healthcare costs, improve
patient care and provide more targeted treatment solutions.
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Under the agreement, IBM and Affymetrix will combine powerful open standards
technologies, including the Affymetrix GeneChip(R) technology and IBM
professional services in areas such as regulatory compliance, business
integration, and systems integration.
The IBM/Affymetrix initiative directly aligns with the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) Roadmap for accelerating medical discovery and applying knowledge
about the human genome to diagnosing and treating diseases and improving
health.
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute at the University of South
Florida is collaborating with IBM and Affymetrix to design innovative clinical
trials that take into account the latest genetic research findings and determine
tailored treatment options for Moffitt patients.
"At Moffitt, we're committed to adopting the latest technologies to help
researchers and clinicians speed cancer screening and diagnosis," said William
Dalton, MD, Ph.D., CEO, Moffitt Cancer Center. "In order to quickly identify
patients at risk and select potential clinical trial participants, we constantly
seek out new solutions. Taking advantage of IBM's data integration services and
life sciences expertise along with the Affymetrix GeneChip technology could lead
to revolutionary ways to target cancer treatment."
The IBM/Affymetrix solution is being designed to enable genetic data, such as
how genes are expressed in a disease state, to be cross-referenced with patient
data, including medical histories and lab tests. This data integration will make
it quicker and easier to translate research findings into new, more
individualized therapies and diagnostics. It will also help clinical trial
investigators choose the best potential candidates for clinical trials -- and
help improve trial successes -- by matching patient history with a particular
genetic profile.
"The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is a pioneer in translating biomedical research
discoveries into the improvement of patient care," said Frank Prendergast, MD,
Ph.D., and director, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The future of
cancer care lies in the convergence of well characterized clinical data on
clinical specimens and high-throughput research information. The IBM and
Affymetrix partnership is an important demonstration of the platforms that will
be needed to realize this vision."
IBM and Affymetrix plan to work with research organizations, pharmaceutical
companies, academic medical research institutions, and other organizations to
promote open standards and new protocols for cross- organizational and
cross-disciplinary integration of patient information with genomic and molecular
research data. These collaborative efforts can help to build the infrastructure
required to take advantage of the NIH Roadmap.
This initiative will enable the type of cooperative research envisioned by the
Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS). FOCIS has Centers of
Excellence comprised of clinician scientists from 28 major US medical centers in
numerous fields of study who are exploring the use of similar treatments for
dissimilar diseases.
"The integration of different types of data, from different FOCIS Centers around
the country is crucial for our group to study diseases in detail across organ
and disease boundaries," said Garry Fathman, Professor of Medicine at Stanford
and Chairman of FOCIS. "The collaborative work that FOCIS is doing, and which
this IBM/Affymetrix initiative is enabling, represents the future of research in
immune mediated diseases and we are very excited about its potential to drive
discovery at FOCIS."
About IBM Healthcareand Life Sciences
IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences brings together IBM resources, including
information technology, deep industry insights, and research expertise, to help
clients develop and deliver safer, more affordable and more effective
diagnostics, drugs and medical care. For more information about IBM Healthcare
and Life Sciences, please visit http://www.ibm.com/industries/healthcare or
http://www.ibm.com/lifesciences/ .
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 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 itsintegrated GeneChip 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 collaboration agreement and initiative
between Affymetrix and IBM as discussed in this release), 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' Form10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003 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 toany 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
of Affymetrix, Inc.
DATASOURCE: Affymetrix, Inc.
CONTACT: Theo Chisholm of IBM Corporation, +1-914-766-3336, or
; or Wes Conard, +1-408-731-5791, or
, or investors, Doug Farrell, +1-408-731-5285, or
, both of Affymetrix, Inc.
Web site: http://www.affymetrix.com/