Axon Instruments and Aviva Biosciences Screening Collaboration

Axon Instruments, Inc. and Aviva Biosciences Corp. announced an exclusive agreement to collaborate on the development and commercialization of a Patch-on-a-Chip™ planar electrode device for use in Axon's PatchXpress ion channel drug screening systems. The agreement gives Axon exclusive marketing rights to Aviva's patch-clamp biochip. The first PatchXpress systems will be available for customer testing by the end of the third quarter in 2002, with release to production anticipated by the end of the year.