NEW YORK, July 24 - Affymetrix and DeCode Genetics have signed an agreement to develop DNA-based tests for patient response to common disease treatments using Affymetrix GeneChip technology, the companies said Tuesday.
The companies willl conduct gene expression analysis on clinical trial populations to discover the genetic correlates for responses to drugs in diseases including high-cholesterol, depression, asthma, hypertension, breast cancer, schizophrenia and migraine. DeCode’s wholly-owned  pharmacogenomics subsidiary EnCode will conduct the clinical work in this collaboration.Â
"By combining DeCode’s population resources for pharmacogenomics with Affymetrix' high-density GeneChip platform, we hope to expand the clinical use of gene expression profiles to predict drug response," Stephen Fodor, Affymetrix’ CEO, said in a statement. “We believe these studies will generate valuable new indicators of disease, thereby contributing to the development of more effective therapies."
Affymetrix and Decode, through Encode, will share any revenues from DNA-based tests the parties develop under the collaboration. The parties did not disclose further terms of the agreement. Â