Affymetrix to provide technology to New York research institutions.

Affymetrix, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA; 408-731-5000), announced that they have entered into an AcademicAccess Preferred agreement with AMDeC, an organization comprising pre-eminent medical schools, academic health centers, and research institutions in the New York area. Through this agreement, participating institutions will gain widespread access to Affymetrix' standard and custom GeneChip arrays, instrumentation and software to monitor gene expression for use in their research and development activities. This agreement marks the first time the New York research community collectively leveraged its purchasing power to provide the State's scientists with a means for accessing powerful tools for their research efforts.

Participating institutions include: Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, NY); Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (New York, NY); Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY); Mount Sinai School of Medicine; New York University School of Medicine (New York, NY); North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System; Rockefeller University (New York, NY); State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn; State University of New York at Buffalo (Buffalo, NY), School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; State University of New York at Stony Brook, University Hospital and Medical Center (Stony Brook, NY); and University of Rochester School of Medicine (Rochester, NY).

"We are delighted that AMDeC has signed an AcademicAccess Preferred agreement to provide its partner institutions with widespread access to our GeneChip technology," said Thane Kreiner, vice president of sales and marketing at Affymetrix. "AMDeC is truly a unique collaborative venture between New York's health and science community and we are pleased our GeneChip technology will be used broadly throughout their large-scale, collaborative clinical research programs."

Maria K. Mitchell, PhD, president of AMDeC, said, "We are very pleased to have successfully negotiated this substantial discount purchasing agreement with Affymetrix. Increasing access to GeneChip technology, coupled with AMDeC's New York Cancer Project biorepository, and its strategic design to build a statewide genomics technology infrastructure comprising 'core' facilities to support research on human biology and the processes of disease at many levels, will put New York's academic health community in the forefront of biomedical research."

Raju Kucherlapati, PhD, professor and chairman of the department of molecular genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said, "High throughput technologies, including Affymetrix' GeneChip technology, are central to today's research in biology and medicine. The deal brokered by AMDeC for its member institutions will go a long way in providing expanded access to this technology to all of the scientists in New York State, thereby positioning New York's research institutions to be major leaders in these fields."

Affymetrix' AcademicAccess program is a volume incentive arrangement designed to meet the needs of academic organizations that want preferential and broad access to Affymetrix' GeneChip technology. Terms and conditions have been specially designed to allow academic researchers freedom to publish scientific results broadly and collaborate with their academic, governmental, and commercial scientific colleagues. Under the AcademicAccess package, academic centers have the right to purchase standard Affymetrix expression GeneChip probe arrays (derived from the public databases) as well as custom GeneChip products based on any gene sequence available to the institution.

Affymetrix is a leader in developing and commercializing systems to acquire, analyze and manage complex genetic information in order to improve the quality of life. The company's GeneChip system consists of disposable DNA probe arrays containing gene sequences on a chip, reagents for use with the probe arrays, a scanner, and other instruments to process the probe arrays and software to analyze and manage genetic information. The company's spotted array system enables individual researchers to create and analyze custom microarrays on an easy-to-use, cost efficient platform. Additional information on Affymetrix and GeneChip technology can be found at www.affymetrix.com.

AMDeC was developed by leaders in New York's medical and scientific community to establish New York as the international center for biomedical research and technology over the next decade. AMDeC's thirty-four member institutions include New York's pre-eminent medical schools, academic health centers, and other research institutions. Through AMDeC, these institutions are working collaboratively to develop large-scale basic science and clinical research projects, expand New York's research infrastructure, recruit talented researchers to New York's scientific institutions, and pursue research-related business opportunities.