Affymetrix to develop, commercialize Axiom Chinese myDesign Genotyping Array

Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) today announced that it will develop and commercialize the Axiom™ Chinese myDesign™ Genotyping Array, the first product that provides maximum power for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) specifically on Chinese populations.

“Affymetrix' ability to use their database of validated SNPs to select markers that are most relevant in the Chinese population will result in an array that will give me the highest genomic coverage”

"Working with our customers in China to design this array, and establishing a fully legal entity in China, further demonstrates our commitment to broadening our capabilities and technical support specifically in China," said William Cao, Affymetrix General Manager of China Operations. "We look forward to continuing our work with the leading genomic researchers in China to strengthen our ability to bring effective technologies to market."

The new Chinese myDesign Genotyping Array is part of a suite of population-optimized arrays to be released this year that leverage the Affymetrix Axiom Genomic Database, the world's largest collection of validated common and rare SNPs for creating custom arrays containing 50,000 to as many as 2.6 million SNPs. In addition to GWAS, this inherent flexibility allows researchers to conduct population-specific replication, fine mapping, and candidate gene studies on a single platform. Scientists focusing on the Chinese population will now be able to generate meaningful data with the most relevant SNPs for their cohort.

"Affymetrix' ability to use their database of validated SNPs to select markers that are most relevant in the Chinese population will result in an array that will give me the highest genomic coverage," said Dr. Lin He, a leading genomic researcher at Shanghai Jiao Tong and Fudan Universities and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "This will significantly increase the likelihood of finding successful associations in my schizophrenia research and in the hypertension project led by my colleague, Dr. Dong Feng Gu of Beijing Fuwai Hospital." Both projects are funded by China's Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Chinese myDesign Genotyping Array will enable researchers to characterize the genetic basis of disease in Chinese populations and leverage high genomic coverage from other Asian populations, making it a powerful, high-throughput tool for human disease research. The Chinese myDesign Genotyping Array features optimized genomic coverage leveraging common variants from a validated set of markers shown to be polymorphic in Chinese samples.

"Expanding our Axiom family of genotyping products to cover the Chinese population comes in response to Dr. He's scientific insights on genotyping study design," said Jay Kaufman, Vice President of DNA Product Marketing at Affymetrix. "Our customers in China, including Dr. He and Dr. Yong Yong Shi, who run the largest genotyping lab in China, called for more focused, Chinese-specific content to give them greater genetic coverage and thus more power. The Chinese myDesign Genotyping Array meets these needs."

The array is in development and will be commercialized later this year for other researchers interested in leveraging this powerful research tool.

"Affymetrix customers are at the forefront in an ever-changing field of genotyping studies, and it is our mission to continue providing the genetic data and microarray technology that will keep them at the cutting edge of human disease research," said Affymetrix President and CEO Kevin King. "Dr. He's Bio-X Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has been an Affymetrix Model Lab since 2008 and now, with more robust Chinese-specific content on our Axiom Custom Genotyping Array platform, his research team will gain an even better understanding of the role that genes play in disease, the effectiveness and safety of therapies, and many other biological factors that affect well-being in the Chinese population."

The Axiom platform's groundbreaking customization capabilities allow researchers to combine SNPs from their own sequencing projects and other sources with Affymetrix' validated SNPs to design their own arrays with up to 2.6 million SNPs. In the near future, this capability will expand to support custom array designs containing more than 5 million SNPs. Content for the Chinese myDesign Genotyping Array was drawn from the 1000 Genomes Project as well as Han Chinese data made available through the International HapMap Project.

SOURCE Affymetrix, Inc.