IBM and Affymetrix Team to Deliver Tools to Accelerate Information-Based Medicine
30 March 2004 - 11:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
IBM and Affymetrix Team to Deliver Tools to Accelerate
Information-Based Medicine Initiative to Help Drive Open Standards
for Integrating Genomic Research with Clinical Patient Data SOMERS,
N.Y. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
IBM and Affymetrix, Inc., , today announced a global initiative to
speed the adoption of a new information-based approach to medicine.
The far-reaching collaboration is designed to help medical centers,
pharmaceutical companies, and research institutions use advanced
technologies to integrate genomic research data with patient
clinical data, to help reduce healthcare costs, improve patient
care and provide more targeted treatment solutions. (For an
interactive version of this press release withadditional
information, please go to
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=AFFX&script=400
and click on the release title) Under the agreement, IBM and
Affymetrix will combine powerful open standards technologies,
including the Affymetrix GeneChip(R) technology and IBM
professional services in areas such as regulatory compliance,
business integration, and systems integration. The IBM/Affymetrix
initiative directly aligns with the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) Roadmap for accelerating medical discovery and applying
knowledge about the human genome to diagnosing and treating
diseases and improving health. The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center
& Research Institute at the University of South Florida is
collaborating with IBM and Affymetrix to design innovative clinical
trials that take into account the latest genetic research findings
and determine tailored treatment options for Moffitt patients. "At
Moffitt, we're committed to adopting the latest technologies to
help researchers and clinicians speed cancer screening and
diagnosis," said William Dalton, MD, Ph.D., CEO, Moffitt Cancer
Center. "In order to quickly identify patients at risk and select
potential clinical trial participants, we constantly seek out new
solutions. Taking advantage of IBM's data integration services and
life sciences expertise along with the Affymetrix GeneChip
technology could lead to revolutionary ways to target cancer
treatment." The IBM/Affymetrix solution is being designed to enable
genetic data, such as how genes are expressed in a disease state,
to be cross-referenced with patient data, including medical
histories and lab tests. This data integration will make it quicker
and easier to translate research findings into new, more
individualized therapies and diagnostics. It will also help
clinical trial investigators choose the best potential candidates
for clinical trials -- and help improve trial successes -- by
matching patient history with a particular genetic profile. "The
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is a pioneer in translating biomedical
research discoveries into the improvement of patient care," said
Frank Prendergast, MD, Ph.D., and director, Mayo Clinic
Comprehensive Cancer Center. "The future of cancer care lies in the
convergence of well characterized clinical data on clinical
specimens and high-throughput research information. The IBM and
Affymetrix partnership is an important demonstration of the
platforms that will be needed to realize this vision." IBM and
Affymetrix plan to work with research organizations, pharmaceutical
companies, academic medical research institutions, and other
organizations to promote open standards and new protocols for
cross- organizational and cross-disciplinary integration of patient
information with genomic and molecular research data. These
collaborative efforts can help to build the infrastructure required
to take advantage of the NIH Roadmap. This initiative will enable
the type of cooperative research envisioned by the Federation of
Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS). FOCIS has Centers of
Excellence comprised of clinician scientists from 28 major US
medical centers in numerous fields of study who are exploring the
use of similar treatments for dissimilar diseases. "The integration
of different types of data, from different FOCIS Centers around the
country is crucial for our group to study diseases in detail across
organ and disease boundaries," said Garry Fathman, Professor of
Medicine at Stanford and Chairman of FOCIS. "The collaborative work
that FOCIS is doing, and which this IBM/Affymetrix initiative is
enabling, represents the future of research in immune mediated
diseases and we are very excited about its potential to drive
discovery at FOCIS." About IBM Healthcareand Life Sciences IBM
Healthcare and Life Sciences brings together IBM resources,
including information technology, deep industry insights, and
research expertise, to help clients develop and deliver safer, more
affordable and more effective diagnostics, drugs and medical care.
For more information about IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences, please
visit http://www.ibm.com/industries/healthcare or
http://www.ibm.com/lifesciences/ . About Affymetrix Affymetrix is a
pioneer in creating breakthrough tools that are driving the genomic
revolution. By applying the principles of semiconductor technology
to the life sciences, Affymetrix develops and commercializes
systems that enable scientists to improve quality of life. The
Company's customers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology,
agrichemical, diagnostics and consumer products companies as well
as academic, government and other non- profit research institutes.
Affymetrix offers an expanding portfolio of integrated products and
services, including itsintegrated GeneChip platform, to address
growing markets focused on understanding the relationship between
genes and human health. Additional information on Affymetrix can be
found at http://www.affymetrix.com/. 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 product
development and market acceptance of the collaboration agreement
and initiative between Affymetrix and IBM as discussed in this
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' Form10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2003 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 toany 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 of Affymetrix, Inc. DATASOURCE: Affymetrix,
Inc. CONTACT: Theo Chisholm of IBM Corporation, +1-914-766-3336, or
; or Wes Conard, +1-408-731-5791, or , or investors, Doug Farrell,
+1-408-731-5285, or , both of Affymetrix, Inc. Web site:
http://www.affymetrix.com/
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