Axon teams with Affymetrix to develop gene scanning system

Drug discovery instrumentation company Axon Instruments is joining forces with genomics tools supplier Affymetrix to develop a new type of gene scanning system that could deliver a much-needed revenue boost to Axon.

The collaboration is seeking to create a scanning instrument for Affymetrix new GeneChip microarrays formatted in multi-well plates, a high-throughput solution currently under development at the gene analysis company.

The instrument will be based on Axon's ImageXpress platform, which until now has been focussed on high throughput drug discovery screening.

One technically interesting feature of the joint venture will be the adaptation of the CCD (charge coupled device) imaging used by ImageXpress in place of the laser technology on which most microarray scanning is based.

The high quality of the CCD-based imager meets Affymetrix requirements for four-colour scanning of GeneChip microarrays and array plates.

If the collaborative project is a success, it should open the way for cross-over applications in the high throughput microarray arena for the ImageXpress product.

Axon CEO Alan Finkel said the financial terms of the pact with Affymetrix were confidential.

In terms of the prospects for creating fresh revenue lines for Axon, however, the company anticipates that it will know "within a few months" whether the project is a success, he said.

For Axon, which is working hard to return to profitability following a $US9.6 million loss in 2002, the deal with Affymetrix is the second alliance it has forged in the past few months with the idea of promoting future revenues.

It is already collaborating with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development to develop an ion channel drug discovery platform which incorporates Axon's PatchExpress 7000A ion channel patch clamp.

Microarray analysis and high-throughput drug screening systems are two of Axon's major zones of concentration. The third relates to neuroscience research into how the brain communicates at the cellular level.

Last year's losses spurred Axon into a round of cost-cutting measures including staff reductions.

However so far this year, Axon is doing "much better and I am optimistic we will have a good year," said Finkel.