Affymetrix Announces Research Collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital to Validate & Develop New Oncology Biomarker ...
June 06 2012 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) today announced a research
collaboration and licensing agreement with Massachusetts General
Hospital (MGH) to co-develop new cancer biomarker tests using the
Affymetrix’ QuantiGene® ViewRNA Assay platform*, an in situ
hybridization assay capable of single transcript in single-cell
detection. As part of this agreement, Affymetrix has the rights to
commercialize the new biomarker tests as an outcome of this
collaboration.
“This agreement provides Affymetrix with an important
opportunity to expand its QuantiGene ViewRNA Assay offering into
the pathology and cancer research markets by providing new
multiplex chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) and fluorescence
in situ hybridization (FISH) RNA biomarker assays which are
validated on clinical samples for research applications. Advanced
in situ RNA hybridization methods applied to less invasive clinical
samples such as FFPE core biopsies, FNAs, and CTCs has the
potential of becoming powerful new tools to deliver diagnostics
that enable the oncologist to personalize patient care,” stated
George Bers, Vice President and General Manager, Gene Expression
Business Unit Manager – Panomics at Affymetrix.
Currently, those who practice surgical pathology and cytology
face challenges in the management of a broad range of cancers.
Medical practitioners are optimistic that a solution to these
challenges will be found in new biomarkers and drug targets which
are being rapidly discovered by NGS and microarray technologies.
Yet these new biomarker discoveries have in themselves become a
challenge requiring extensive validation prior to becoming
candidates for translation into diagnostic, prognostic, and
predictive tests to fulfill the promise of delivering a new
generation of personalized medicine and associated economic and
healthcare outcomes.
"The future of cancer treatment lies in our ability to
precisely identify specific biomarkers so we can then
find effective drugs for that particular form of
disease,” said Daniel A. Haber, MD, PhD, director of the MGH Cancer
Center. “This collaboration with Affymetrix aims to move this
important work forward."
MGH is a world leader in cancer research and education,
translational medicine, and a major center for patient care. MGH
has some of the world’s largest annotated tissue banks for
retrospective biomarker studies as well as large and diverse
patient populations for prospective studies. MGH’s Cancer Center
and Department of Pathology are currently collaborating with
Affymetrix to validate biomarkers of current and future clinical
importance using Affymetrix’ QuantiGene ViewRNA technology platform
for multiplex in situ testing of FFPE tissue biopsies, FNA
cytologies, and CTC “liquid biopsies”. QuantiGene ViewRNA is an
ideal platform for cancer biomarker validation and testing as RNA
is a predictable, sensitive and specific alternative to antibody
based IHC and ICC testing. QuantiGene ViewRNA probes for RNA assays
can be developed for research applications for any expressed gene
within days and can analyze non-coding RNAs believed to be
important master regulators of cancer and for which antibody assays
can’t be developed. To date, the research collaboration has
produced several potential diagnostic/prognostic biomarker targets
including new class of non-coding RNA, HSATII, and EGFR vIII.
* For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic
procedures.
About Affymetrix
Affymetrix technology is used by the world's top pharmaceutical,
diagnostic, and biotechnology companies, as well as leading
academic, government, and nonprofit research institutes. More than
25,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the
technology. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and
has manufacturing facilities in Santa Clara, Cleveland, Ohio, and
Singapore. The company has about 900 employees worldwide and
maintains sales and distribution operations across Europe, Asia,
and Latin America. For more information about Affymetrix, please
visit http://www.affymetrix.com.
Forward-looking statements
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. These and
other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2010, and other SEC reports for subsequent
quarterly periods.
PLEASE NOTE: Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, GeneChip,
QuantiGene and all other trademarks are the property of Affymetrix,
Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
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