Affymetrix and Iconix will combine their efforts to provide tools to assess drug toxicity. The collaboration will combine Affymetrix’ GeneChip microarray technology with Iconix’ DrugMatrix 640 compound reference database and analysis software. Affymetrix’ arrays and Iconix’ analysis tools could provide detailed information on a drug candidate’s toxicological liabilities and pharmacological properties. “We are pleased to work with Affymetrix on this program, which we believe will remove what has been a major hurdle to the widespread application of toxicogenomics to drug discovery,” said Don Halbert, Ph.D., executive vice president of research and development at Iconix Pharmaceuticals. “The new paradigm will streamline all the steps required to help companies put gene expression data into the context of toxicology. Arming pharmaceutical companies with the fullest available chemogenomic and pharmacologic data is expected to better enable candidate prioritization and move development decisions earlier in the drug development process.”