Company Announcement
Zyomyx & Axon Instruments Inc. Enter Strategic Alliance
AXON INSTRUMENTS INC 2001-04-17 ASX-SIGNAL-G
HOMEX - Melbourne
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zyomyx Inc, of HAYWARD, Calif, announced today that it has entered
into a Strategic Alliance and Joint Development Agreement with Axon
Instruments Inc, (ASX: AXN) to develop scanning instrumentation for
data acquisition and analysis of Zyomyx protein biochips and related
products.
Zyomyx is a world leader in the development of protein biochips, with
applications in proteomics and bioanalysis requiring the study of
proteins in fully functional states. Zyomyx' protein biochip platform
will be the first to permit highly parallel measurements of protein
expression, structure and activity, as well as allowing the study of
protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions in high
density microchip architectures. To maximize the applications of its
protein biochip technology platform, Zyomyx seeks to develop biochip
readers capable of ultrahigh sensitivity and parallel processing
scanning techniques.
Axon is a leader in the development and manufacture of
high-performance instruments and software for research and drug
discovery. Zyomyx and Axon will co-develop novel scanning
instrumentation to operate with Zyomyx' various protein biochip
architectures. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will
develop several generations of scanning products and evaluate
additional fluorescence and non-fluorescence imaging platforms.
Specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Over the years, Axon has developed and delivered cutting-edge
research instruments to numerous pharmaceutical companies and
academic institutions," said Zyomyx Chief Technology Officer, Peter
Wagner, PhD. "Their expertise in this area will be instrumental in
developing high-performance scanning instruments to complement
Zyomyx' unique protein biochip technologies."
Added David Wellis, PhD, Axon's Vice President of Functional
Genomics, "Zyomyx strongly impressed us with their advanced protein
biochip technology, so we're pleased that they have chosen Axon to
co-develop biochip scanning and imaging platforms. The collaboration
with Zyomyx is an important part of Axon's strategic plan to expand
our functional genomics product line into proteomics."
Axon Instruments Inc, (http://www.axon.com) located in Union City,
California, and founded in 1984, produces a broad spectrum of
instrumentation and software for genomics and high throughput
screening. Axon is widely recognized as the world's pre-eminent
manufacturer of hardware and software products for the cellular
neurosciences research community. Axon's goal is to produce a range
of superior yet affordable instrument and software systems for drug
discovery aimed at the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology
companies and academic researchers. Axon Instruments was listed on
the Australian Stock Exchange in March 2000 (symbol: AXN).
Located in Hayward, California, Zyomyx Inc, is bridging the gap
between genomic information and proteomics through the development of
a versatile platform technology to innovate protein analysis. Zyomyx'
approach will, for the first time, bring to proteomics highly
parallel and high throughput analysis, capacities that were essential
to the advancement of genomics. Zyomyx has successfully integrated
protein biochemistry with advanced materials science and
microfabrication to create the first miniaturized biochip containing
high-density arrays of functional proteins for the analysis of
complex biological mixtures. Zyomyx' lead product, a protein
profiling biochip, will permit the highly parallel detection and
quantification of proteins and is designed to accelerate target
discovery and validation, and has applications throughout the
pharmaceutical drug development process.
Zyomyx has ongoing partnerships with Cambridge Antibody Technology,
Dyax Corp, Fujirebio Inc, and MDS Proteomics Inc. Additional
information about Zyomyx can be obtained at zyomyx.com.
NOTE: Zyomyx is a trademark of Zyomyx Inc.
SOURCE: Zyomyx Inc.
CONTACT:
Lawrence K Cohen, PhD,
President & CEO of Zyomyx Inc,
510-266-7500, or
info@zyomyx.com;
or investors, Stephanie Diaz, sdiaz@sf.burnsmc.com,
or media, Juling Chao, jchao@sf.burnsmc.com,
both of Burns McClellan Inc, 415-352-6262, for Zyomyx Inc;
or David Wellis, PhD,
Vice President of Functional Genomics of Axon Instruments Inc,
510-675-6200,
or Investorinfo@axon.com/
Web site: axon.com
Web site: zyomyx.com |
