SANTA CLARA, Calif. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Affymetrix Inc. announced today that the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard will use the Affymetrix GeneChip(R) Mapping 500K Set for several groundbreaking genome-wide association studies in critical areas, including cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic and neuropsychiatric diseases.
The Broad Institute will work with its academic and industry collaborators to generate more than six billion individual genotypes from 12,000 human DNA samples to help identify the genetic causes of these diseases. Throughout the course of this work, these partners will develop additional laboratory, informatics and statistical methods for using the new 500K Set.
“One of the biggest challenges in biomedicine is our lack of knowledge about the root causes of many diseases,” said David Altshuler, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the Program in Medical Population and Genetics at The Broad Institute. “I am extremely excited about the potential of this technology to help us identify the most common genetic causes and point us in the direction of how best to treat these diseases. This kind of knowledge has the potential to revolutionize medicine.” Altshuler is also Associate Professor of Genetics and of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and in the Department of Molecular Biology and Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Affymetrix is a leader in genotyping technologies and we are very excited to be working with them,” said Stacey Gabriel, Ph.D., Director of Broad’s Genetic Analysis Platform. “We believe that the new Affymetrix array, in conjunction with other available technological advances, will rapidly help us reap the knowledge promised by the sequencing of the human genome.”
Until recently, the available technology has limited the practicality of performing comprehensive genome-wide association studies. The new GeneChip Mapping 500K Set enables researchers to do whole-genome analysis in large populations for the first time, providing a more comprehensive view of the specific genes that contribute to common diseases.
“Whole-genome association studies are accelerating discovery in labs around the world as scientists apply high-resolution GeneChip technology to understanding the underlying causes of disease,” said Stephen P.A. Fodor, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Affymetrix. “The comprehensive nature of the Broad project will help to establish methods for experimental design and data analysis in genome-wide association studies and will be invaluable for the many scientists who undertake these experiments in the future.”
The Broad Institute is using the GeneChip Mapping 500K Set under Affymetrix’ Early Access program. The 500K product is currently available under this program and is expected to commercially launch later in 2005.
About Affymetrix
Affymetrix scientists invented the world’s first microarray in 1989 and began selling the first commercial microarray in 1994. Since then, Affymetrix GeneChip(R) technology has become the industry standard in molecular biology research. Affymetrix technology is used by the world’s top pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies as well as leading academic, government and not-for-profit research institutes. More than 1,200 systems have been shipped around the world and more than 3,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the technology. Affymetrix’ patented photolithographic manufacturing process provides the most information capacity available today on an array, enabling researchers to use a whole-genome approach to analyze the relationship between genetics and health. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., Affymetrix has subsidiaries in Europe and Asia in addition to manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif. and Bedford, Mass. The company has about 900 employees worldwide. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit the company’s website at 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 (including uncertainties relating to commercial and technological success of the strategic alliance between The Broad Institute and Affymetrix discussed in this press 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’ Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 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.
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