The leak could be on the Roche side, don't forget. Relax and enjoy the up moves, even if we don't get the news 'til after the stock has run. Here's today's press release:
Roche Signs as Initial Subscriber to `Easy Access' Program
For Affymetrix GeneChip(R) Arrays
SANTA CLARA, Calif., and BASEL, Switzerland, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ --
Affymetrix, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFX) and F. Hoffmann-LaRoche Ltd together with its affiliates (Roche) announced today that they have entered into a subscription-based supply agreement under which Roche will have broad access to both custom and standard GeneChip expression arrays and GeneChip instrumentation for simultaneous monitoring of the expression of thousands of genes -- Affymetrix' EasyAccess program. In addition, Roche will have access to commercially available genotyping and resequencing applications.
During the initial term of the three-year agreement, for which EasyAccess payments commence January 1, 1998, all of the Roche worldwide pharmaceutical research organizations will have broad access to Affymetrix' GeneChip technology. This technology will be used primarily for the purposes of identifying and selecting targets within drug discovery research and developing new therapeutics. The Roche sites that will be fully participating in the EasyAccess program include Basel, Switzerland; Welwyn, United Kingdom; Kamakura, Japan; Nutley, N.J., and Roche Bioscience in Palo Alto, Calif. In exchange for the EasyAccess supply commitment, Roche will pay Affymetrix significant fees for its EasyAccess subscription along with payments for custom chip designs and chips. Further terms of the agreement, which ends December 31, 2000, were not disclosed.
"The Roche organization has worked with Affymetrix on two separate and complementary projects: with our Basel discovery research group and at Roche Bioscience," said Franz B. Humer, Chief Operating Officer and Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division of Hoffmann-LaRoche. "We have been pleased with the performance of the technology and believe the arrangement we have negotiated will provide Roche with good value to support our discovery research programs over the next three years. With this agreement, we have ensured that Roche's research scientists worldwide will have access to these powerful new tools for understanding the function of genes and their role in disease. We anticipate that the Affymetrix technology will assist us in our research goal of developing significant and innovative therapies."
"Given Roche's early and extensive commitment to gene-based research, we are delighted to have Roche as our first EasyAccess customer," stated Dr. Stephen P. A. Fodor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Affymetrix. "The EasyAccess program has been specifically designed to accommodate select customers who have a commitment and vision to genomics and who want to broadly apply the Affymetrix technology in their research and development. This agreement is an important step toward our goal of establishing the GeneChip technology as the platform of choice for complex genetic analysis." |
