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

To: Dave Williams who wrote (603)	1/22/1998 9:33:00 AM
From: TEColeman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1728

Wednesday January 21, 8:30 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Affymetrix, Inc. Affymetrix and bioMerieux Expand Collaboration to Include HIV Genotyping And Microbial Contamination Testing SANTA CLARA, Calif., and ST. LOUIS, Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Affymetrix, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFX - news) and bioMerieux Vitek, Inc., announced today that bioMerieux has exercised its option to expand the 1996 bacteriology collaboration agreement between the companies to include the development of clinical diagnostic tests using Affymetrix GeneChip(R) probe arrays. These new products will be used to detect sequence variations in the HIV genome. This agreement also includes the development of new diagnostic genotyping tests to detect microbial contamination of food and cosmetic products. Under the terms of the expanded non-exclusive agreement, bioMerieux will apply Affymetrix GeneChip technology towards the development of HIV genotyping and microbial contamination tests that will run on an instrument platform being developed by bioMerieux. In addition, in order to accelerate bioMerieux's commercialization of these assays, Affymetrix will collaborate with bioMerieux on the development of GeneChip probe arrays that will be read on Affymetrix' GeneChip platform. In return, Affymetrix will receive upfront and milestone payments for both the HIV and microbial contamination detection assays. Once the assays are developed, Affymetrix will manufacture DNA probe arrays for bioMerieux and receive royalties on commercial sales of the products by bioMerieux. bioMerieux is responsible for all costs associated with developing the instrumention for these assays as well as the costs associated with the regulatory approval of all products it develops in collaboration with Affymetrix. ''We are pleased to strengthen our collaboration with bioMerieux, a leading company in infectious disease and industrial testing,'' said Stephen P.A. Fodor, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Affymetrix. ''bioMerieux's commitment to developing these new applications of our technology should provide new products to increase the safety of food and cosmetic products.'' ''This agreement emphasizes bioMerieux's commitment to remain a world leader in the fields of infectious diseases and food and cosmetic testing for microbial contamination,'' said Philippe Archinard, Corporate Executive Vice President of bioMerieux. ''Expanded access to additional GeneChip-based assays and to Affymetrix' existing instrumentation platform will enable bioMerieux to accelerate the development of a comprehensive set of diagnostic tools that will dramatically improve timeliness, effectiveness, accuracy and overall benefit-to-cost ratio to treat infectious diseases and to guarantee the safety of industrial products.'' Affymetrix has developed and intends to establish its GeneChip system as the platform of choice for acquiring, analyzing and managing complex genetic information in order to improve the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of disease. 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. bioMerieux Vitek, Inc., is part of the French bioMerieux Group, a major player in the fields of infectious disease diagnostics and industrial microbiological controls. With FRF 3 billion in annual sales in 1997 and 75% of the total in international business, the bioMerieux Group ranks among the world's top biological diagnostics companies.