The Right Active Agent Gets Genes Flashing: Chip from Infineon Makes Pharmaceutical Development...

Business Editors

MUNICH, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 2003

Infineon Technologies today presents a biochip system solution that is designed to greatly accelerate the development of medical drugs. The core of the solution is a biochip, with a surface of only one square centimeter,

that can simultaneously analyze the reaction of up to 400 known genes to a specific substance. Infineon developed the complete solution, consisting of a Flow-Thru Chip(TM) and measuring apparatus, together with the U.S. company MetriGenix. The two companies also share marketing of the system: Infineon is active in Europe, while MetriGenix operates in the U.S. The development, and Infineon's market introduction of the system today, marks a major step in the implementation of Infineon's strategic "Agenda 5-to-1" program, which the company encompasses the company's plan to establish itself within the next five years as the number one supplier of semiconductor solutions.

"We expect that new research methods, such as those enabled by the Flow-Thru Chip system, will revolutionize work in pharmaceutical labs in a manner similar the way that personal computers altered the world of computing two decades ago: Everything becomes smaller, faster, and more cost-effective," explained Dr. Thomas Klaue, Vice President Business Development at Infineon Technologies AG. "As a partner of the pharmaceutical industry in the field of pharmaceutical research, we want to evolve into a solutions provider over the medium term. With its core competencies, Infineon meets all requirements to serve this emerging market by producing cost-effective, high-quality chips in large quantities for research applications."

Better chances for treatment, revenue advantage of up to 500 million euros

Currently, pharmaceutical companies typically invest an average of 12 to 15 years into the development and test phase of a new drug. Because every acceleration of this process can improve the patients' chances for successful treatment, the new

Infineon chip and test systems make an important contribution to the industry. Using new, chip-based analysis methods, the pharmaceutical industry expects time savings of one to two years in the development of a new drug. For a "blockbuster" drug - a popular, widely used medication - reducing time to market by just one year can mean increased revenues of up to 500 million euros.

Effective immediately, biochips are available for the study of inflammation, of various types of cancer such as lung and breast cancer, and for neurological diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Multiple Sclerosis. It is also possible for researchers to customize the Flow-Thru Chip through the application of specific genes.

Infineon plans to work with industry partners to further develop the Flow-Thru system for diagnostic purposes. This could enable physicians to determine the right medication for patients in their offices. Based on a blood sample, the physician could collect information about the specific reaction to a drug, about side effects and reaction times. This would mean significant progress in the treatment of diseases such as

depression or hypertension, where the time until a medication takes effect is most critical.

How Infineon's Flow-Thru biochip works

The Flow-Thru Chip is made of silicon. A special manufacturing process developed by Infineon is used to etch about a million pores with a diameter of one tenth of a human hair within a surface of only one square centimeter. Known sections of genes, for example, genetic material known to change activity in the case of breast cancer, are placed into the pores. The genes fix themselves on the walls of the micro-pores. The samples to be examined are treated with a potential active agent and then repeatedly pumped back and forth through the pores in a process that is known as Flow-Thru. In the process, only the matching genes of the sample will bind to the gene sections on the pore wall. A luminescent dye that is added in a subsequent step will bind to the matched genes and emit detectable light. Captured by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera and forwarded to a computer, the light pattern can be evaluated on the screen. Once a chip is prepared with genetic material, the test to determine whether a substance is effective is fast and easy. It compares the light pattern of the healthy sample with the pattern of the treated pattern. If they match, the active agent is judged to be effective.

Infineon presents the commercially available Flow-Thru Chip system solution at the Bio-Analytica trade show (April 1-4, 2003, Munich). The system is priced at about 60,000 Euros and includes a hybridization unit and an evaluation apparatus with an integrated high-sensitivity camera.

Information about Infineon's biochip activities can be found at: www.infineon.com/bioscience.

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG, Munich, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions for the automotive and industrial sectors, for applications in the wired communications markets, secure mobile solutions as well as memory products. With a global presence, Infineon operates in the US from San Jose, CA, in the Asia-Pacific region from Singapore and in Japan from Tokyo. In fiscal year 2002 (ending September), the company achieved sales of Euro 5.21 billion with about 30,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at http://www.infineon.com.

This news release and pictures are available at http://www.infineon.com/news

"Flow-Thru Chip" is a trademark of MetriGenix, Inc.