ExonHit Therapeutics and Agilent Technologies Inc. have announced that SpliceArrays, a new generation of microarrays to detect alternative splicing, could now be purchased directly from Agilent. SpliceArrays previously had been available only through ExonHit’s SpliceArray Service, which was announced in February. The SpliceArrays’ patented probe design allows the detection of both the reference and alternatively spliced forms of targeted genes on Agilent’s robust microarray platform.

According to a joint press release, customers can purchase SpliceArrays from Agilent through a simple license agreement with ExonHit for access to ExonHit’s proprietary microarray content. License fees are directly proportional to the number of SpliceArrays purchased, with significant discounts for volume commitments and no reach-through rights.

Bruno Tocque, CEO of ExonHit said, “We are confident that ExonHit’s patented designs for monitoring splicing via microarray will become the industry standard. ExonHit’s SpliceArrays utilize a combination of probes directed at both exons and junctions. This design allows specific detection of both molecular species resulting from each splicing event.”

SpliceArrays are the only commercially available microarrays designed to detect alternative splicing. Current SpliceArray products include GPCR, Ion Channel, Nuclear Receptor, Apoptosis and the Cytokine family of SpliceArrays, as well as custom designs. Customers now have the option of either purchasing SpliceArrays to run in their own labs or using the SpliceArray Service.