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Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium Partners With Perlegen and Affymetrix to Search for Genetic Origins of Ten Complex Diseases

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

More Than Ten Institutes in Great Britain and Africa to Collaborate and Generate over 10 Billion Genotypes from 15,000 Individuals

The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC), the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), Perlegen Sciences and Affymetrix Inc. (Nasdaq:AFFX) today announced a collaboration to undertake one of the largest whole-genome association programs ever conducted to search for genes associated with ten complex diseases. Perlegen Sciences will genotype 15,000 individuals and produce more than 10 billion individual genotypes using Affymetrix GeneChip(R) technology, including the new Human Mapping 500K Array Set.

"We plan to genotype more than 15,000 samples across 675,000 SNPs using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping 500K Array Set plus a custom 175K SNP panel," said Professor Peter Donnelly from the Department of Statistics at Oxford, who chairs the consortium. "We liked the combination of the existing throughput and expertise of Perlegen with Affymetrix' 500K product that can be run in different labs."

The WTCCC is a team of 24 leading human geneticists that conducts research at a number of institutes throughout the United Kingdom, including the WTSI, Leicester University, Cambridge University and Oxford University. For the first 11,000 samples, the group will search for genes associated with coronary heart disease, hypertension, types 1 and 2 diabetes, bipolar disorder, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis. As part of this collaboration, an additional 4000 samples will be analyzed by the WTSI to study the genetic origins of common diseases, such as types 1 and 2 diabetes, obesity and malaria. All 15,000 DNA samples are being processed and arrayed by the WTSI and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation/Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory before shipment to Perlegen.

The new Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping 500K Array Set provides a more comprehensive and unbiased view of the entire genome, enabling scientists to analyze genetic variation across the genome in large populations for the first time. Researchers believe that the "genetic signposts" will provide a better understanding of which people are most at risk and why. Access to this detailed genetic information should help researchers develop more effective treatments in the long term.

The WTCCC studies will take advantage of the evolving partnership between Perlegen and Affymetrix. In previous collaborations, Perlegen only used custom Affymetrix arrays. Perlegen is now using the recently launched Affymetrix 500K Array Set, which offers whole-genome coverage and industry standard GeneChip product performance, making it the first practical and affordable solution for genome-wide association studies.

"This groundbreaking project is possible because of the sequencing of the human genome. It is an excellent illustration of the importance of knowing the human genome sequence and cataloguing its variations," said Mark Walport, Ph.D., director of the Wellcome Trust.

"We are thrilled to work with the world-class scientists from the WTCCC in rapidly applying Affymetrix' unparalleled technology to statistically powerful studies of serious diseases that affect so many people," said Brad Margus, Chief Executive Officer of Perlegen. "The discovery of genetic variations that increase susceptibility to these diseases will validate new drug targets and accelerate the development of new treatments, particularly treatments aimed at causes rather than symptoms."

"These studies by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium are a great example of how Affymetrix' innovative genotyping technology is providing scientists with the ability to do experiments that simply haven't been possible before," said Stephen P.A. Fodor, Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Affymetrix. "The GeneChip Human Mapping 500K Array Set is quickly becoming the standard in large-scale genotyping, enabling researchers to accelerate discoveries in the lab and help bring new treatments and tests to the patient's bedside."

About The Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-funding charity established in 1936 under the will of tropical medicine pioneer Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust's mission is to promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health. It currently spends more than GBP 400m p.a. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

About Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which receives the majority of its funding from the Wellcome Trust, was founded in 1992 as the focus for UK sequencing efforts. The Institute is responsible for the completion of the sequence of approximately one-third of the human genome as well as genomes of model organisms such as mouse and zebrafish, and more than 90 pathogen genomes. In October 2001, funding was awarded by the Wellcome Trust to support a new range of postgenomic programs designed to understand the biological function of genes and their relevance to our health. These programs are built around a Faculty of more than 30 senior researchers. http://www.sanger.ac.uk

About Perlegen

Based in Mountain View, California, Perlegen Sciences, Inc. is working to provide safe and effective medicines to the world. The company quickly and cost effectively analyzes millions of genetic variations in DNA samples obtained from clinical trial participants. This information is used to explain and predict the efficacy and adverse effect profiles of prescription drugs. Perlegen also applies this expertise to discovering genetic variants associated with disease for potential new therapeutics and diagnostics. For years, scientists and drug manufacturers have been eager to comprehensively examine entire genomes; through Perlegen, this is now possible. Perlegen is able to bring drugs to the market wherein clinical development could have been otherwise discontinued. For more information about the company and its technologies, visit Perlegen's website at www.perlegen.com. Perlegen Sciences, Perlegen, and the Perlegen logo are trademarks of Perlegen Sciences, Inc.

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 more than 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. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., Affymetrix has subsidiaries in Europe and Asia in addition to manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif. and Bedford, Mass. The company has about 900 employees worldwide. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit the company's website 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 related to the Company's ability to achieve hoped-for manufacturing yields for the 500K Array Set and other products, including the ability to identify and resolve manufacturing problems; 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 commercial and technological success of the strategic alliance between the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Affymetrix and Perlegen as 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.

Source: Business Wire

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