Incyte to Sequence for the Human Genome Project

Incyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), a provider of genomic information, announced an agreement with the University of Washington (Seattle) to sequence DNA for the Human Genome Project. Under the agreement, Incyte will perform DNA sequencing and provide data to the University of Washington Genome Center, which will refine the data and deposit it into GENBANK, the publicly accessible collection of data from the Human Genome Project. The resulting data, like that of other contributors to the Human Genome Project, will be widely available to medical researchers.

"The relationship with Incyte capitalizes on their proven strength and ability to rapidly generate and deliver high-quality DNA sequence data," said Maynard Olson, professor of medicine and genetics, University of Washington. "We are pleased to be working with Incyte to contribute quality sequence data to the Human Genome Project."

"Incyte's participation in the Human Genome Project is in direct line with our strategy to ensure our position as a leading producer of DNA sequence data," said Roy A. Whitfield, CEO of Incyte. "We are proud to play such a significant role in providing information that will ultimately lead to a better understanding of human health and disease."

Incyte provides high-volume sequencing services to the bioresearch industry. Incyte Contract Sequencing leverages Incyte's core competencies in the areas of library construction, sequencing, and bioinformatics to generate sequence and bioinformatics data for customers. Incyte's contract sequencing customers include academic institutions, biotechnology companies, and large pharmaceutical companies.

For more information: Roy A Whitfield, CEO, Incyte Pharmaceuticals Inc., 3160 Porter Dr., Palo Alto, CA 94304. Tel: 650-855-0555. Fax: 650-855-0572.

Edited by Laura DeFrancesco