SAN DIEGO & SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) and Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN)announced today that they have entered into a settlement agreement toresolve their patent litigation. Under the terms of the settlement,Illumina agreed, without admitting liability, to make a one-timepayment to Affymetrix of $90 million. Affymetrix agreed to dismisswith prejudice all lawsuits it had brought against Illumina. Illuminaagreed to dismiss with prejudice its counterclaims in the relevantlawsuits. In exchange for the payment, Affymetrix granted Illumina,its affiliates and its customers a perpetual covenant not to sue formaking, using or selling any of Illumina's current products,evolutions of those products and services related thereto. Inaddition, Affymetrix extended the covenant not to sue for four yearsfor making, using or selling Illumina products or services that arebased on future technology developments. The covenant not to suecovers all fields other than photolithography, the process by whichAffymetrix manufactures its arrays and a field in which Illumina doesnot operate.
The settlement will resolve all litigations and payments resultingfrom lawsuits Affymetrix commenced against Illumina in United StatesDistrict Court for the District of Delaware, in Regional Court inDusseldorf (Germany), and in High Court of Justice, Chancery Division- Patents Court in London (United Kingdom). Payment of the settlementamount will be made once the litigations have been formally dismissedby the courts.
About Illumina
Illumina is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer ofnext-generation life science tools and integrated systems for thelarge scale analysis of genetic variation and biological function.Using our proprietary technologies, we provide a comprehensive line ofproducts and services that currently serve the sequencing, genotyping,and gene expression markets, and we expect to enter the market formolecular diagnostics. Our customers include leading genomic researchcenters, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, clinicalresearch organizations and biotechnology companies. Our tools provideresearchers around the world with the performance, throughput, costeffectiveness and flexibility necessary to perform the billions ofgenetic tests needed to extract valuable medical information fromadvances in genomics and proteomics. We believe this information willenable researchers to correlate genetic variation and biologicalfunction, which will enhance drug discovery and clinical research,allow diseases to be detected earlier and permit better choices ofdrugs for individual patients.
About Affymetrix
Affymetrix GeneChip(R) microarray technology is theindustry-standard tool for analyzing complex genetic information.After inventing microarray technology in the late 1980s, Affymetrixscientists have been dedicated to developing innovative products thatprovide researchers with a more complete view of the genome. Theseproducts continue to accelerate genetic research and enable scientiststo develop diagnostics and tailor treatments for individual patientsby identifying and measuring the genetic information associated withcomplex diseases.
Today, Affymetrix technology is used by the world's toppharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies, as well asleading academic, government and not-for-profit research institutes.More than 1,600 systems have been shipped around the world and morethan 10,500 peer-reviewed papers have been published using thetechnology.
Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and hasmanufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif., and Singapore. Thecompany has about 1,100 employees worldwide and maintains sales anddistribution operations across Europe and Asia. For more informationabout Affymetrix, please visit: www.affymetrix.com.
Safe Harbor Statement for Illumina
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities LitigationReform Act of 1995: this release may contain forward-lookingstatements that involve risks and uncertainties. Among the importantfactors that could cause actual results to differ materially fromthose in any forward-looking statements Illumina's ability (i) tointegrate effectively our recent acquisition of Solexa, Inc., (ii) todevelop and commercialize further our BeadArray(TM), VeraCode(TM) andSolexa(R) technologies and to deploy new gene expression andgenotyping products and applications for our technology platforms,(iii) to manufacture robust micro arrays and Oligator(R)oligonucleotides, (iv) to integrate and scale our VeraCode technology,(v) to scale further oligo synthesis output and technology to satisfymarket demand derived from our collaboration with Invitrogen, togetherwith other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities andExchange Commission including our recent filings on Forms 10-K and10-Q or in information disclosed in public conference calls, the dateand time of which are released beforehand. We disclaim any intent orobligation to update these forward-looking statements beyond the dateof this release.
Safe Harbor Statement for Affymetrix
All statements in this press release that are not historical are"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of theSecurities Exchange Act as amended, including statements regardingAffymetrix' "expectations," "beliefs," "hopes," "intentions,""strategies" or the like. Such statements are subject to risks anduncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially forAffymetrix from those projected, including, but not limited to: risksand uncertainties associated with the agreement to settle outstandinglitigation between Affymetrix and Illumina discussed in this pressrelease; risk related to past and future acquisitions; risks of thecompany's ability to achieve and sustain higher levels of revenue,higher gross margins and reduced operating expenses; uncertaintiesrelating to technological approaches, manufacturing and productdevelopment; personnel retention; uncertainties related to cost andpricing of Affymetrix products; dependence on collaborative partners;uncertainties relating to sole-source suppliers; uncertaintiesrelating to FDA and other regulatory approvals; competition; risksrelating to intellectual property of others and the uncertainties ofpatent protection and litigation. These and other risk factors arediscussed in Affymetrix' Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,2006, and other SEC reports, including its Quarterly Reports on Form10-Q for subsequent quarterly periods. Affymetrix expressly disclaimsany obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates orrevisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein toreflect any change in Affymetrix' expectations with regard thereto orany change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any suchstatements are based.
NOTE: Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo and GeneChip(R) areregistered trademarks owned or used by Affymetrix Inc.
SOURCE: Illumina, Inc.
Illumina, Inc.
Media Contact:
Maurissa Bornstein, 858-332-4055
Public Relations Manager
mbornstein@illumina.com
or
Investor Contact:
Peter J. Fromen, 858-202-4507
Sr. Director, Investor Relations
pfromen@illumina.com
or
Affymetrix Inc.
Media Contact:
Andrew Noble, 408-731-5571
Assoc. Director, Corp. Communications
andrew_noble@affymetrix.com
or
Investor Contact:
Doug Farrell, 408-731-5285
Vice President, Investor Relations
doug_farrell@affymetrix.com