Novartis Pharma AG and the Swiss-based bioinformatics company GeneData AG have entered into a multi-year license agreement for the micro-array data analysis system GeneData Expressionist. "Our agreement with GeneData begins an important new collaboration in bioinformatics which extends Novartis Pharma's functional genomics research, and forwards our strategy whereby strong in-house groups are strengthened by alliances from among the best biotech companies and academic groups worldwide," said Dr. Paul Herrling, Head of Global Research, Novartis Pharma AG.

Bioinformatics plays an important role in drug discovery due to the emergence of high-throughput technologies and the need to manage and extract value from the mass of data generated by these approaches. "The extension of our successful collaboration with Novartis is a sign that GeneData's products solve a major need in the life science industry. Our customers recognize that GeneData Expressionist is the most comprehensive system to analyze large amounts of gene expression data," said GeneData's CEO, Othmar Pfannes, PhD.

GeneData has installed GD Expressionist at all major Novartis Pharma research sites from where it can be accessed through the Intranet by Novartis scientists worldwide. The system is integrated into Novartis Pharma's global functional genomics data management system.

GeneData Expressionist is a system for analyzing large amounts of gene expression data from micro-arrays. It meets industrial criteria for the handling of data from various technologies such as Affymetrix GeneChip, Incyte GEMs and other major micro-array technologies. The system features technology-specific data quality control, extensive statistical analysis capabilities, and can be adapted to special applications within the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and biotechnology industries. GeneData Expressionist has already been licensed by several of the leading life science companies.

GeneData AG - with European headquarters in Basel (Switzerland), regional branch offices in Munich (Germany) and San Francisco (U.S.A.), and represented in Japan by Teijin Systems, Ltd. - is one of the world's leading suppliers of high-performance bioinformatics software and database systems. GeneData specializes in the analysis of data generated in functional genomics research such as genome data, gene expression data, protein expression data, metabolic profiling data and high-throughput screening data.

Novartis is a world leader in healthcare with core businesses in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, generics, eye-care, and animal health. In 1999, the Group achieved sales of CHF 25.4 billion (USD 16.9 billion) (excluding subsequently divested businesses) and invested approximately CHF 3.6 billion (USD 2.4 billion) in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 66 000 people and operates in over 140 countries around the world. For further information please consult http://www.novartis.com .