SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Affymetrix announced that six institutes of the US National Institutes of Health have agreed to a broad GeneChip technology access contract. They include: the National Cancer Institute; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and, the National Institute of Health Clinical Center.
Under the agreement, NIH researchers will gain broad access to Affymetrix's standard and custom GeneChip arrays, instrumentation, and software to monitor gene expression in research activities. The agreement includes terms and conditions for use of the GeneChip technology, volume discounts, and minimum purchase commitments. The terms and conditions for use of the GeneChip technology by NIH researchers have been specially designed to allow for broad publication of scientific results and to facilitate collaborations with academic, governmental, and commercial scientific colleagues.