Affymetrix Licenses Microfluidics Technology From Caliper Life Sciences
April 25 2005 - 9:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Affymetrix Licenses Microfluidics Technology From Caliper Life
Sciences HOPKINTON, Mass. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 25
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALP)
and Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) today announced that Caliper
has issued Affymetrix a non-exclusive license to use a portion of
Caliper's microfluidics patent estate with Affymetrix' GeneChip(R)
microarray technologies. The license extends to the manufacture and
sale of GeneChip brand products in all areas of application,
including research, diagnostics and applied genomics applications.
In exchange for the license, Affymetrix will pay upfront licensing
fees and royalties on future products covered under the agreement.
Further financial details related to the agreement were not
disclosed. The agreement announced today is the second agreement
since Caliper began an active program to out-license its
intellectual property portfolio. The new "LabChip Driven" program
was put in place to support the company's microfluidics adoption
strategy and to broaden and accelerate the availability of new
technologies and products for life science and diagnostics
applications. "The potential for merging two technologies on the
forefront of life science innovation represents an important option
for us," said Alan Sherr, Director of Licensing for Affymetrix. "We
have worked successfully with Caliper as a partner for a year now,
and are pleased to be able to extend the scope of our relationship
with Caliper to this new area of potential value and importance to
Affymetrix' customers." "We are pleased that a leading life
sciences company like Affymetrix recognizes the vast potential of
LabChip technologies," said Kevin Hrusovsky, President and CEO at
Caliper. "Affymetrix is moving beyond basic research applications
and is pioneering areas such as pharmacogenomics and personalized
medicine. Incorporating our technologies -- first laboratory
automation and now the potential for Caliper's microfluidics
technologies -- into these vital areas of human health is important
to our corporate ideals and to our future as a key technology
provider to the industry." The scope of the license agreement
includes nucleic acids processing and handling associated with
GeneChip arrays, but excludes the right to use LabChip technology
with respect to products intended primarily to perform nucleic acid
separations as a discrete, non-integrated quality control step.
About Caliper Life Sciences: Caliper Life Sciences uses its
advanced liquid handling and LabChip(R) technologies to create
leading edge tools that accelerate drug discovery, enable diagnosis
of disease and facilitate scientific research. Caliper headquarters
are located in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with R&D, operations
and manufacturing facilities for LabChip devices in Mountain View,
California, and direct sales, service and applications support
throughout the world. Caliper customers and partners include many
of the largest pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life sciences
companies. For more information, please visit Caliper's web site at
http://www.caliperls.com/. The statements in this press release
regarding royalties received by Caliper for future Affymetrix
product sales, Caliper's ability to out-license its intellectual
property, and Caliper's ability to broaden and accelerate the
availability of new technologies are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as
amended. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially for Caliper
from those projected. These risk factors are discussed under the
caption "Factors Affecting Operating Results" in Caliper's Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on March 16, 2005. Caliper
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect any change in Caliper's expectations
with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or
circumstances on which any such statements are based. About
Affymetrix: Affymetrix scientists invented the world's first
microarray in 1989 and began selling the first commercial
microarray in 1994. Since then, Affymetrix GeneChip(R) technology
has become the industry standard in molecular biology research.
Affymetrix technology is used by the world's top pharmaceutical,
diagnostic and biotechnology companies as well as leading academic,
government and not-for-profit research institutes. More than 1,200
systems have been shipped around the world and nearly 3,000
peer-reviewed papers have been published using the technology.
Affymetrix' patented photolithographic manufacturing process
provides the most information capacity available today on an array,
enabling researchers to use a whole-genome approach to analyze the
relationship between genetics and health. Affymetrix is
headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with manufacturing facilities
in Sacramento, Calif., and Bedford, Mass. The company maintains
important sales and marketing operations in Europe and Asia and has
about 900 employees worldwide. All statements in this press release
that are not historical are "forward- looking statements" within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as
amended, including statements regarding Affymetrix' "expectations,"
"beliefs," "hopes," "intentions," "strategies" or the like. Such
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially for Affymetrix from those
projected, including, but not limited to risks of the Company's
ability to achieve and sustain higher levels of revenue, higher
gross margins, reduced operating expenses, uncertainties relating
to technological approaches, manufacturing, product development,
market acceptance (including uncertainties relating to the benefits
of the licensing agreement discussed in this press release),
personnel retention, uncertainties related to cost and pricing of
Affymetrix products, dependence on collaborative partners,
uncertainties relating to sole source suppliers, uncertainties
relating to FDA and other regulatory approvals, competition, risks
relating to intellectual property of others and the uncertainties
of patent protection and litigation. These and other risk factors
are discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2004 and other SEC reports, including its Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q for subsequent quarterly periods. Affymetrix expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any
updates or revisions to any forward- looking statements contained
herein to reflect any change in Affymetrix' expectations with
regard thereto or any change in events, conditions, or
circumstances on which any such statements are based. NOTE:
Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, and GeneChip are registered
trademarks owned or used by Affymetrix, Inc. LabChip and Caliper
are registered trademarks of Caliper Life Sciences, Inc.
DATASOURCE: Affymetrix, Inc. CONTACT: media, Wes Conard, Director,
Public Relations, +1-408-731-5791, or investors, Doug Farrell, Vice
President, Investor Relations, +1-408-731-5285, both of Affymetrix,
Inc.; or Michele Boudreau, Director, Corporate Communications of
Caliper Life Sciences, Inc., +1-650-623-0305 Web site:
http://www.affymetrix.com/ http://www.caliperls.com/
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