Affymetrix Inc. and Luminex Corporation announced a distribution agreement under which eBioscience, a business unit of Affymetrix, will sell Luminex’s MAGPIX, Luminex 200 and FLEXMAP 3D multiplexed assay platforms in specified countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Affymetrix will sell the Luminex instruments together with ProcartaPlex multiplexed immunoassays and QuantiGene Plex multiplexed quantitative gene expression assays, offering complete solutions to customers working in the fields of drug discovery and development, immuno-oncology and translational research. The agreement will strengthen continued growth and adoption of Affymetrix’ bead-based assay portfolio, which serves markets growing at double-digit rates worldwide, while expanding the Luminex instrument installed base.

The distribution agreement covers the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and China as well as The Netherlands, Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and Poland.

“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Luminex, the leading instrument provider supporting bead-based multiplexed assays,” said Dara Grantham Wright, senior vice president and general manager of the eBioscience business unit at Affymetrix.

“This agreement deepens our relationship with Luminex, and will provide our customers an integrated solution to access a best-in-class platform with an ever-expanding, high-quality assay menu.”

“By enabling Affymetrix to offer both Luminex multiplexing instruments and Affymetrix assays, we can further drive accessibility to customers focused on disease-related research around the world,” said Todd Bennett, vice president, global sales and customer operations, Luminex Corporation.

“We are very pleased to enter into this agreement, and to support Affymetrix in its efforts to bring flexible, high-quality solutions to laboratories working in the fields of drug discovery and development, immuno-oncology and translational research.”
Financial terms were not disclosed.

Luminex offers three multiplex instruments enabling laboratories to choose a platform that fits their throughput and flexibility needs. MAGPIX is the simplest, most affordable, and most compact of Luminex’s xMAP instruments. This compact multiplexing unit performs up to 50 different tests in a single reaction volume and reads a 96-well plate in just 60 minutes. The Luminex 200 System provides laboratorians the ability to perform up to 100 different tests in a single reaction volume while using either magnetic or polystyrene microspheres. FLEXMAP 3D is the platform of choice for high throughput applications. The platform is capable of simultaneously measuring up to 500 genes or proteins from a small sample. All three xMAP-based instruments run multiplexed assays for proteins or nucleic acids, whether kit-based or lab-developed.