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Gene Express MAQC Manuscripts Published in Nature Biotechnology

Posted on: Monday, 11 September 2006, 09:01 CDT

Gene Express, Inc. today announced that three manuscripts resulting from its participation in the Micro Array Quality Control (MAQC) Consortium were published today in Nature Biotechnology. The MAQC was assembled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to evaluate micro array and alternative gene expression platforms and to establish quality control parameters.

Other members of the consortium include scientists from six FDA centers, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, leading academic institutions, major manufacturers of microarrays and/or quantitative gene expression measurement technologies, including Affymetrix, Inc., GE Healthcare, Applied Biosystems, Agilent Technologies Inc., Eppendorf AG, Panomics, Inc. and Illumina, Inc. and major users of these technologies, including Biogen Idec Inc. and Novartis AG.

Dr. James Willey, Chief Scientific and Medical Consultant for Gene Express, authored three of the accepted manuscripts including "MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) Project: A Comprehensive Survey Demonstrates Concordant Results between Gene Expression Technology Platforms,""Evaluation of DNA Microarray Results with Alternative Quantitative Technology Platforms," and "The Use of RNA Sample Titrations for Assessing Microarray Platform Performance and Normalization Techniques." Dr. Elizabeth Herness Peters, Technical Director of Business Development for Gene Express, co-authored two of these manuscripts.

Dr. Willey stated, "The results of the MAQC project support Gene Express's claims that StaRT-PCR meets all of the performance characteristics recommended by the FDA and CLIA as important for regulatory review consideration.

"StaRT-PCR achieved these performance characteristics by including an internal standard within a standardized mixture of internal standards in each measurement. For example, this enabled elimination of false negatives and false positives with StaRT-PCR, in contrast to the results obtained with the non-standardized methods that StaRT-PCR was compared with. Also, the standardized data generated, in units of molecules enumerated, were advantageous for comparing results among experiments and institutions. The value of data in this form is evident from the study in that the two quantitative methods with which StaRT-PCR was compared re-scaled their data to StaRT-PCR data so that they could be directly compared in the same figures."

Gerald Vardzel, CEO of Gene Express said, "We couldn't have asked for a more powerful validation than that of the MAQC. Gene Express is penetrating the drug development market by providing our proprietary technology for standardizing genomic data to leading drug development companies and academic institutions."

Additional information about the MAQC Consortium and project is available on the FDA's website at http://www.fda.gov/nctr/science/centers/toxicoinformatics/maqc/index.htm.

About Gene Express, Inc.

Gene Express, Inc. accelerates and enables drug development by providing standardized genomic data. The Company's proprietary and patented StaRT-PCR(TM) (Standardized Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) platform technology for measuring gene expression levels in cells, tissue and blood is being used by numerous pharmaceutical concerns, as well as leading academic centers. The Company's $3 billion focus market for licensing and contract services includes the drug development, academic and molecular diagnostics segments. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.geneexpressinc.com.

Any forecasts, plans, projections and other information contained in this press release describing events or results that may occur in the future are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the United States Private Securities litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and important factors that are beyond the control of the Company that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from the results presently anticipated or projected. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and any such forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to this cautionary statement. All forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this release and are based on current expectations. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

 Contact: Rachel Levine The Global Consulting Group Tel: 646-284-9439 E: Contact via http://www.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=5B34ABAF86E1D091  

SOURCE: Gene Express, Inc.

Source: MARKET WIRE

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