Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : AFFYMETRIX (AFFX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tuck who wrote (1653)	12/11/2003 1:06:38 PM
From: tuck	Respond to of 1728

>>SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SAN CARLOS, Calif., Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Affymetrix, Inc., (Nasdaq: AFFX - News) and NuGEN Technologies Inc., a privately held company developing and commercializing products for high sensitivity nucleic acid amplification and detection, announced today that they have entered into a joint collaboration to develop NuGEN's Whole Transcript Amplification (WT-SPIA(TM)) system for use with Affymetrix GeneChip® brand technology. Financial terms were not disclosed. "We are delighted to work with Affymetrix towards our shared vision to integrate NuGEN's novel amplification reagents with Affymetrix GeneChip technology," said Jan D'Alvise, President and CEO of NuGEN. "We will develop WT-SPIA reagents for the preparation of sample prior to hybridization to GeneChip arrays with the goal of maintaining the accuracy, sensitivity, speed and simplicity that characterizes NuGEN's commercially available Ovation Amplification System products that are based upon the Ribo-SPIA(TM) technology. By collaborating with Affymetrix, the industry leader for microarrays that enable whole genome analysis, we plan to develop an integrated solution which will be instrumental to advancing several important fields within genomic research." "Following our collaborative research efforts, Affymetrix and NuGEN intend to develop this promising new target amplification method to support the next generation of GeneChip arrays from Affymetrix," said John E. Blume, Ph.D., Vice President of Expression Research for Affymetrix. "Our collaborative efforts are focused on providing the most powerful product solutions to drive the entire field of whole genome analysis forward." In this collaboration, NuGEN plans to develop amplification reagents that replicate the entire length of mRNA transcripts and are optimized for use with GeneChip technology. An important application of WT-SPIA will be the identification of splice variants. Alternative mRNA splicing is an important mechanism to expand the diversity of gene products because an estimated 60% of human genes undergo alternative splicing of their coding units, or exons. This process greatly increases the repertoire of proteins that are expressed in different cell types at different stages of normal or pathological development. Splice variants are believed to have significant functions in the control of normal and disease states.<< This is a pretty important deal, as it defines the next generation GeneChip. Look for plenty of analysts questions at the next conference -- at the latest, H&Q in mid-January -- regarding timing of the launch of these chips. As well as questions about the timeline with respect to the FDA's approval of AmpliChips (which may be punted to Roche), and what's going on with the Enzo litigation. AFFX is a bit of a puzzle to me right now. The delayed AmpliChip launch and the Enzo litigation are clouds, but the chip will indeed launch, so that's probably priced in. I would imagine that at some point -- perhaps in the discovery phase -- an edge to one contestant or another will be clear, and a new agreement reached by settlement. In other words, I can't imagine AFFX allowing itself to take a major legal hit. Operationally, AFFX is firing on all cylinders, although I'd like to hear more about cutting manufacturing costs. Cheers, Tuck