Agilent Technologies and ExonHit Expand Agreement for Agilent to Market and Sell ExonHit SpliceArrays Worldwide.PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif. & PARIS Paris, in Greek mythology Paris or Alexander, in Greek mythology, son of Priam and Hecuba and brother of Hector. Because it was prophesied that he would cause the destruction of Troy, Paris was abandoned on Mt. -- Agilent Technologies This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :A) and ExonHit Therapeutics (Euronext:ALEHT) announced today that they have entered into a marketing alliance in which Agilent will market and sell nine different ExonHit human and mouse SpliceArrays as commercial products. These SpliceArrays include GPCR GPCR Guanine Nucleotide-Binding Protein-Coupled Receptor GPCR GTP-binding Protein-Coupled Receptor , Ion Channel ion channel n. See channel. , nuclear receptors and apoptosis pathways. SpliceArrays are a new generation of microarrays that resolve the expression of genes at the level of their alternatively spliced transcripts. Recent publications suggest that more than 80 percent of all human genes undergo alternative splicing Alternative splicing is the RNA splicing variation mechanism in which the exons of the primary gene transcript, the pre-mRNA, are separated and reconnected so as to produce alternative ribonucleotide arrangements. , a process by which a single gene can produce several distinct proteins. Scientists increasingly recognize the importance of alternative splicing and the need for robust and accurate tools to fully interrogate the complete transcriptome The transcriptome is the set of all messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules, or "transcripts", produced in one or a population of cells. The term can be applied to the total set of transcripts in a given organism, or to the specific subset of transcripts present in a particular cell type. to understand disease states. ExonHit's proprietary SpliceArray content and patented probe configuration achieve this goal. "Splice variant analysis is the next natural development in gene-expression technology, and we see it as holding important value for the biomedical research Biomedical research (or experimental medicine), in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research or applied research conducted to aid the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. community," said Fran DiNuzzo, Agilent vice president and general manager, Integrated Biology Solutions. "SpliceArray technology also complements our portfolio of microarray-based research tools, and the ExonHit team has proven to be a source of well-designed solutions." "We are excited to take this step, which broadens the relationship between our companies," said Bruno Tocque, president of ExonHit's Management Board. "Agilent is a technology and market leader in the field of microarrays, and we are very pleased to be partners with them in the broader commercialization of this new generation of microarrays." ExonHit SpliceArrays originally became available through Agilent in August 2005, and based on the success of that collaboration, the two companies expanded the agreement. About ExonHit Therapeutics ExonHit Therapeutics is the world's leader in the analysis of alternative RNA splicing RNA splicing n. See splicing. RNA splicing, n the process by which base pairs that interrupt the continuity of genetic information in deoxyribonucleic acid are removed from the precursors of messenger , a process which when deregulated plays a key role in the onset of various diseases. ExonHit has a multi component commercial strategy to capture the maximum value from its leadership in alternative splicing. The Company is already generating revenues from a new generation of microarrays, "SpliceArrays" that enable life science researchers to detect crucial disease-associated information. These products are marketed worldwide in conjunction with Agilent and Affymetrix. In the field of diagnostics, ExonHit has a major collaboration with bioMerieux to develop completely novel predictive blood-based cancer diagnostics, which could play a key role in improving the treatment of breast and other major cancers. In parallel, ExonHit is developing its own therapeutic pipeline in the field of neurodegenerative diseases neurodegenerative diseases diseases characterized by neurodegeneration. Lesions are microscopic only but in chronic disease with massive involvement there may be grossly visible atrophy of affected nervous tissue. and cancer. The Company has advanced drug candidates into clinical trials and is evaluating several promising pre-clinical compounds. ExonHit also has a strategic partnership with Allergan, to discover and develop new therapeutics in the areas of pain, neurological diseases and ophthalmology. This collaboration provides on-going research funding to ExonHit. Founded in 1997, ExonHit is headquartered in Paris, France, and has a U.S. facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The company is listed on Alternext of Euronext Paris (ticker:ALEHT). Information about ExonHit is available online at www.exonhit.com. About Agilent Technologies Agilent is a leading worldwide provider of microarray-based, genomics research solutions. Agilent's end-to-end solution includes reagents for sample preparation and microarray processing; hardware for sample QC and high-throughput microarray scanning; 60-mer oligo microarrays on industry-standard 1" x 3" glass slides for gene expression; comparative genomic hybridization hybridization /hy·brid·iza·tion/ (hi?brid-i-za´shun) 1. crossbreeding; the act or process of producing hybrids. 2. molecular hybridization 3. and chromatin immunoprecipitation applications; custom microarray design services; and industry-leading GeneSpring and Rosetta software products for data analysis. Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 20,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $5.1 billion in fiscal 2005. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com. Forward-Looking Statements The elements included in this communication may contain forward-looking statements subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Actual results of the Company may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements because of different risk factors described in ExonHit Therapeutics' Document de Base. NOTE TO EDITORS: SpliceArray is a trademark of ExonHit Therapeutics. |
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