Agilent gains exclusive access to intellectual property for ChIP-on-chip, plans collaborative research center in Cambridge, Mass.
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 5, 2005
Agilent Technologies Inc. has acquired announced its acquisition of Computational Biology Corp., a biotech pioneer in ChIP-on-chip, a microarray-based technique for understanding gene regulation in disease. The acquisition gives Agilent exclusive access to the critical patent and intellectual property for ChIP-on-chip analysis that will enable the company to provide unique microarray solutions for disease research, drug discovery and drug development.
Computational Biology Corp., based in Cambridge, Mass., was founded by Drs. Richard Young and David Gifford of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and biotechnology executive Dr. Heidi Wyle. Young is a professor at the prestigious Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, a leader in the study of gene regulatory networks, and the primary inventor of ChIP-on-chip. Gifford, a professor in MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department, is an expert in computational biology and in the development of software algorithms for biological analysis. Both will remain professors at MIT while consulting with Agilent to support the ongoing development of commercial solutions for ChIP-on-chip.
Within six months of the acquisition, Agilent plans to open a center in Cambridge to enable close collaboration with Young and Gifford, Whitehead and MIT, as well as other collaborators and customers in the region. It will include an Agilent demonstration center for genomics, proteomics and informatics.
ChIP-on-chip uses chromatin immuno-precipitation (ChIP) to discover how regulatory proteins interact with the genome of living cells. Regulatory proteins bind to genomic DNA to control chromosome replication and gene activity, thereby functioning as switches in the regulatory circuitry of cells. This circuitry is largely uncharted, and its discovery will help researchers develop new drugs targeting the proteins and pathways that play a role in disease.
“For the past decade, microarray technology has been used to measure genes whose activity is up- or down-regulated in disease,” said Young. “With this new technology, scientists will be able to go a step further to discover how regulatory proteins control gene activity. This is a pivotal step for biological research and our understanding of genetics. Only Agilent’s microarray platform provided the specificity and sensitivity to turn our analytical method into a powerful research tool for the entire scientific community.”
“This acquisition is strategically important to the expansion of Agilent’s microarray platform into new array-based genomics applications,” said Fran DiNuzzo, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s Integrated Biology Solutions business. “In addition to developing commercial products for ChIP-on-chip, we are committed to educating the scientific community about the uses of this technology in enabling target discovery and validation, disease research, pathway analysis, toxicogenomics and mechanism of action studies.”
Informatics will be critical for integrating ChIP-on-chip data with other microarray-based research results. Agilent’s recent acquisition of Silicon Genetics will facilitate the rapid development, in collaboration with Gifford, of new software for ChIP-on-chip and complex genomic analyses.
As part of the acquisition, Agilent has acquired exclusive access to U.S. patent 6,410,243, Chromosome-Wide Analysis of Protein-DNA Interactions. This patent is the property of the Whitehead Institute and licensed exclusively to Computational Biology Corp.
Agilent in Life Sciences
Agilent’s Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis (LSCA) business is a world-leading provider of instruments, supplies, software and services to the life science and chemical analysis markets. In 2004, these markets accounted for approximately 40 percent and 60 percent respectively of LSCA’s $1.3 billion in revenue. Agilent’s LSCA business is a global organization with 3,700 employees, five international manufacturing sites, and worldwide sales and support services to more than 21,000 customer organizations in more than 70 countries. It is a leading provider of microarray, microfluidic, informatics, liquid chromatography, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry-based solutions to pharmaceutical, biotech, academic, government and chemical organizations.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company’s 28,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $7.2 billion in fiscal year 2004. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.
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Contact:
Christina Maehr, Agilent Life Sciences
+1 408 553 7205
[email protected]
Michele Drake, Agilent Corporate
+1 650 752 5296
[email protected]
PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 18, 2004
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced a 32-bit version of its ChemStation, its software for instrument control and data acquisition and management in the analytical laboratory. The conversion to 32-bit architecture improves the software’s performance and stability, especially when running with other 32-bit programs such as antivirus software.
The version B.01.01 software offers these benefits:
- Longer file names (greater than eight characters)
- More accurate integration results with an optimized ChemStation 32-bit integrator and new integration parameters
- User-configurable table columns, allowing users to display only the columns of interest
The new software supports the Agilent 1100 Series and 1090 liquid chromatographs; 6890, 6850 and 5890 gas chromatographs; 1100 Series mass selective detectors; the 35900E analog-to-digital converter; the G1888 headspace sampler; and the 7683B automatic liquid sampler.
Agilent has also released revision B.03.02 of its ChemStore and ChemStation Plus Security Pack add-on software modules to provide support for the 32-bit ChemStation. These add-on software modules provide easy organization, review, approval and storage of analytical data, and support for compliance with regulatory requirements such as U.S. FDA 21 CFR Part 11.
The ChemStation revision B.01.01 and ChemStore revision B.03.02 are compatible with Microsoft(r) Windows(r) 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 and Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1A. The ChemStore Server revision B.03.02 software is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Service Pack 4.
Availability
Agilent ChemStation Plus data systems are available worldwide and can be ordered through any Agilent sales office. Prices vary depending on the network requirements of the laboratory, the number of users, and the number of instruments to be controlled. The newest revisions of the ChemStation and ChemStore/ ChemStation Plus Security Pack software will be provided free of charge to all customers with a valid software update contract.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company’s 28,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $7.2 billion in fiscal year 2004. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com.
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Contact:
Christina Maehr
+1 408 553 7205
[email protected]
