Wyeth extends genetic test agreement

Wyeth has extended its agreement to use microarrays from Affymetrix, the technology manufacturer announced today.

The agreement will see Wyeth using Affymetrix’s GeneChip microarray for a further three years, which extends the relationship that originally began in 1994. Wyeth currently uses the technology in a wide range of areas in drug development and discovery processes.

Affymetrix states that Wyeth was one of the first major pharmaceutical companies to use genomics for clinical research and that the latest GeneChip technology will help it to classify disease more accurately, predict clinical progression and determine likelihoods of a treatment’s success that were not previously possible.

Chip Lavelle, vice president of the pharmaceutical business unit at Affymetrix, commented: “Wyeth has been a pioneer in demonstrating the power of Affymetrix microarray technology in the entire drug discovery and development process.”

He added that the agreement will “dramatically accelerate [Wyeth’s] research and, ultimately, help bring more effective tests and therapies to market faster”.

Wyeth recently reported third-quarter gains in earnings with revenues coming in at GBP2.71 billion, constituting a nine per cent growth over the last 12 months.

Prescription drugs showed robust performance, with sales growing by ten per cent to GBP2.29 billion for the last three months. The pharmaceutical has also filed four applications for drug approvals in the last month, some of which could bring in revenues in hundreds of millions.