Axon Instruments Inc., a leading drug discovery instrument maker, is pleased to announce a licensing agreement with Affymetrix Inc., granting Axon rights to certain Affymetrix intellectual property covering the manufacture and sale of scanners and software for conventional spotted microarrays.

The agreement has the potential to improve sales of existing Axon scanning products as customers respond to the added certainty afforded by the agreement.

Geoff Powell, president of Axon Instruments stated, "Affymetrix is one of the earliest developers of microarray technology and has also led the way in developing the commercial applications for the technology. Their efforts have opened up business opportunities for Axon and other companies and through this license we are recognizing the significant contributions made by Affymetrix to the world of scientific discovery. This recognition of Affymetrix' contributions will be to the advantage of both companies and we anticipate that through the benefits above we will improve our revenue and profit potential."

Trent Basarsky, director of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Axon Instruments, added, "Affymetrix has built an extensive microarray technology intellectual property portfolio that has been recognized by many companies in the microarray arena. Axon is pleased to acquire this license under favorable terms as it provides opportunities in growth areas, such as diagnostics, for Axon."