Affymetrix Inventors Named European Inventors of the Year; European Patent Office Recognizes Microarray Invention
May 17 2006 - 7:00PM
Business Wire
Affymetrix Inc. (Nasdaq:AFFX) announced today that Founder,
Chairman and CEO, Stephen P.A. Fodor, Ph.D., as well as Lubert
Stryer, MD (Chairman, Affymetrix Scientific Advisory Board), J.
Leighton Read, MD and Michael C. Pirrung, Ph.D. were named the 2006
"European Inventors of the Year" by the European Patent Office
(EPO) in the small to medium sized enterprise category. The award
recognizes the inventors for being the first to file patents on
high-density microarray technology. For more information on the EPO
awards, please visit:
http://www.european-patent-office.org/news/pressrel/2006_05_11_e.htm
The European Inventor of the Year award acknowledges individuals
for outstanding contribution to innovation with products that have
proven lasting commercial success. The inventors were recommended
for the award by a high-profile, independent jury of international
experts from industry, science and politics. This is the first year
of the award and all of the nominated patents were granted by the
EPO between 1991 and 2000. These scientists were the first to
develop and describe microarray technologies and combinatorial
chemistry synthesis. Seminal manuscripts describing this work have
been published in Science, Nature and PNAS. The microarray
technology became the basis of Affymetrix, a company that Dr. Fodor
co-founded. Today, Affymetrix arrays are considered the gold
standard tool for analyzing complex genetic information. They are
used by hundreds of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrichemical,
diagnostics and consumer products companies as well as academic,
government and other non-profit research institutes. "We have
witnessed a rapid progression in the evolution of the microarray
since we first filed the patents in the late 1980's. Affymetrix
continues to raise the bar with products, such as the Human Mapping
500K Array Set, All-Exon arrays and whole-genome tiling arrays that
provide a much deeper and broader view of the complete genome,
enabling researchers to perform experiments that were never
possible before," said Fodor. "Affymetrix is a company that prides
itself on innovation and it is an honor to be recognized with this
award from such an influential intergovernmental body like the
European Patent Office." 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 by leading academic, government and not-for-profit
research institutes. More than 1,300 GeneChip systems have been
shipped around the world and more than 4,000 peer-reviewed papers
have been published using the technology. Affymetrix' patented
photolithographic manufacturing process provides the highest
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 1,000 employees worldwide. For more information about
Affymetrix, please visit the company's Web site at
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 (including risks related to the Company's
ability to achieve hoped-for manufacturing yields for certain array
products, including the ability to identify and resolve
manufacturing problems), product development; 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 Dec. 31, 2005, 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.
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