FULLERTON, Calif., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Agencourt Bioscience Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Beckman Coulter , today announced the signing of a distribution and supply agreement with Affymetrix Inc. . Agencourt will provide a nucleic acid purification product, Agencourt RNAClean, to be included in the reagent kit for Affymetrix’ GeneChip(R) Array Station, an automated target preparation and microarray processing system that reduces labor and improves the standardization of experimental results.
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Agencourt RNAClean provides a simple, highly reproducible method for preparing quality nucleic acids for use in applications such as microarray analysis. Agencourt RNAClean enables the researcher to use one product to complete both cDNA and cRNA purification steps. Affymetrix will incorporate the SPRI magnetic bead technology into the automated GeneChip Array Station reagent product offering.
“We are pleased that Affymetrix has selected our product for cDNA and cRNA cleanup in support of their GeneChip Array Station,” stated Lynn Doucette- Stamm, Ph.D., Agencourt’s vice president business development. “Beta site testing of this product for use with systems installed by Affymetrix has been outstanding, and we look forward to continued growth of the product line.”
“The integration of the SPRI technology and specifically the Agencourt RNAClean product allows us to provide our customers with an optimal automated target preparation solution for their GeneChip microarray experiments,” said Alan Dance, senior vice president of business development at Affymetrix. “By improving data consistency and decreasing the hands-on time needed to perform experiments, the Affymetrix Array Station enables scientists to accelerate discovery, publication, and bring new tests and therapies to market more quickly.”
Agencourt Bioscience Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Beckman Coulter, Inc., is a leading provider of genomic services and nucleic acid purification products in the life sciences market. Our products and services support the advancement of science in understanding biology, improving health and delivering safe and effective treatments for disease. Agencourt’s purification products and services are based on the proven and patented Solid Phase Reversible Immobilization (SPRI) technology, which has been adopted by several of the largest genome research facilities and used to sequence over one-third of the human genome. Agencourt is one of five NHGRI-funded Large- Scale Sequencing Centers whose goal is to sequence genomes of organisms of high biomedical importance. The company’s state-of-the-art facilities are guided by the FDA’s Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) as a contract analytical laboratory. Agencourt is located in Beverly, Massachusetts. For more information about Agencourt Bioscience visit our website at www.agencourt.com.
Affymetrix scientists invented the world’s first high-density 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 1,300 systems have been installed around the world and nearly 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 analyzing the relationship between genetics and health. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif., and Bedford, Mass. The company maintains important sales and marketing operations in Europe and Asia and has about 1,000 employees worldwide. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit the company’s website at www.Affymetrix.com.
Beckman Coulter, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of biomedical testing instrument systems, tests and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. Spanning the biomedical testing continuum -- from pioneering medical research and clinical trials to laboratory diagnostics and point-of- care testing -- Beckman Coulter’s 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical information to enhance health care around the world. The company, based in Fullerton, Calif., reported 2004 annual sales of $2.4 billion with 64 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services. For more information, visit www.beckmancoulter.com.
Contacts: Beckman Coulter Affymetrix Jeanie Herbert Doug Farrell (714) 773-7620 (408) 731-5285 Investor Relations Investor Relations Anne M. Warde Wes Conard (714) 773-7655 (408) 731-5791 Media Relations Public Relations
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CONTACT: Investor Relations, Jeanie Herbert, +1-714-773-7620, or MediaRelations, Anne M. Warde, +1-714-773-7655, both of Beckman Coulter; orInvestor Relations, Doug Farrell, +1-408-731-5285, or Public Relations, WesConard, +1-408-731-5791, both of Affymetrix
