CapitalBio Corporation and Affymetrix Announce Strategic Relationship
April 26 2005 - 6:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
CapitalBio Corporation and Affymetrix Announce Strategic
Relationship Initial Projects Include Advanced Personal Scanner
Development and GeneChip(R) Services SANTA CLARA, Calif. and
BEIJING, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Affymetrix, Inc.
(NASDAQ:AFFX) and CapitalBio Corporation, a leading life science
company based in Beijing, P.R. China, announced today that the two
companies have entered into a strategic relationship. The
non-exclusive agreement initially includes joint development of a
proprietary, advanced GeneChip(R)-compatible personal scanner and a
service provider program, through which CapitalBio will offer the
full line of Affymetrix GeneChip products. The companies intend to
jointly pursue a number of complementary products for research and
molecular diagnostics for worldwide markets, which may include
additional instrumentation, reagents and services. Other
collaborations under discussion include manufacturing certain
products in China to take advantage of CapitalBio's engineering and
manufacturing capabilities. "CapitalBio is an internationally
recognized innovative developer of life sciences technologies and
products with a first-rate R&D staff," said Susan Siegel,
President of Affymetrix. "We believe that our partnership will
accelerate the growth and standardization of molecular technologies
to understand and improve life worldwide." "We are very
enthusiastic about entering a partnership with Affymetrix, a global
market leader in DNA chips," commented Dr. Jing Cheng, CEO and CTO
of CapitalBio. "We see many synergies between our two companies.
Affymetrix is the pioneer in providing GeneChip products and
solutions. CapitalBio is a fast growing company that aims at
providing total solutions including DNA, protein, cell and tissue
arrays, cell separation and sample processing, as well as
instrumentation. By coupling CapitalBio's extensive engineering
expertise and efficient product development processes with
Affymetrix' profound GeneChip technology base and market knowledge,
customers can expect more timely delivery of cost-effective
products for research, clinical diagnostics, and many other
applications to improve world health." "We have entered into a
long-term relationship that is flexible enough to allow the
exploration and incorporation of additional mutually beneficial
opportunities, and yet strong enough to attain concrete near-term
product development and commercialization milestones for the
benefits of both companies," added Dr. Thane Kreiner, Senior Vice
President of Corporate Affairs at Affymetrix. "We are excited about
the potential for this partnership to accelerate science,
innovation and economic development in the People's Republic of
China and globally." "This is the beginning of a long-term
partnership that can expand in several dimensions," commented David
Sun, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at
CapitalBio. "There are multiple opportunities for CapitalBio and
Affymetrix to pursue collaboratively in China and beyond. Joint
R&D programs with shared intellectual properties, such as the
advanced personal scanner program, co-marketing and OEM are all
possibilities. This relationship will benefit both companies with
far-reaching significance." In addition to joint R&D and
commercialization programs, Affymetrix and CapitalBio intend to
collaborate on promoting and advancing standards on microarray
technologies, products and industrial processes. About CapitalBio
CapitalBio is a leading life science Company that develops and
commercializes a broad range of products, including Biochip
technology products, for drug discovery research, genomics,
proteomics, bio-safety testing and clinical applications.
Headquartered in Beijing, China, CapitalBio has rapidly evolved
from a young innovative biochip developer into a comprehensive life
science entity with three affiliates or subsidiaries: AVIVA
Biosciences, a San Diego, California based company that develops
and markets on-chip patch-clamp technologies for ion-channel
studies for drug discovery researches; Chipscreen Biosciences, a
Biotech company located in Shenzhen, China, for small molecular
drug discovery and development; and Wangdong Medical Equipment, one
of the largest medical equipment companies in China that occupies
about 70% of China's conventional X-Ray imaging market. Additional
information on CapitalBio can be found at
http://www.capitalbio.com/. About Affymetrix Affymetrix scientists
invented the world's first microarray in 1989 and began selling the
first commercial microarray in 1996. 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 (including
uncertainties relating to the use of diagnostic arrays and outcome
of licensing agreements 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. CapitalBio, and the
CapitalBio logo, and Capital Biochip are registered trademarks
owned or used by CapitalBio Corporation. AVIVA, Chipscreen,
Wangdong are registered trademarks owned or used by AVIVA
Biosciences, Chipscreen Biosciences, and Wangdong Medical Equipment
Company respectively. DATASOURCE: Affymetrix, Inc. CONTACT: media,
Wes Conard, Director, Corporate Communications, +1-408-731-5791, or
investors, Doug Farrell, Vice President, Investor Relations,
+1-408-731-5285, both of Affymetrix, Inc.; or David Sun, Senior
Vice President, Business, Development and Marketing, of CapitalBio
Corporation, (86 10) 8072 6868, ext. 8311, or (01) 805 300 5155 Web
site: http://www.capitalbio.com/ Web site:
http://www.affymetrix.com/
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