Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced that the Institut de cancérologie Gustave Roussy (IGR) Genomic Center has renewed its status as an Agilent Certified Service Provider and Reference Training Center for a broad panel of microarray technologies including comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), one-color and dual-color gene expression, and microRNA profiling. The IGR Genomic Center first achieved Agilent Certified Service Provider status for gene expression microarrays in 2005. Today IGR expanded the panel of services to CGH and miRNA, and became the first center in Europe to achieve this status for both DNA and RNA technologies. The center also is authorized to perform training for the same technologies that meets Agilent certification standards. The IGR Genomic Center achieved this status after passing a rigorous series of assessments. The assessments included proficiency in analyzing Agilent's 60-mer oligo microarrays using the complete Agilent workflow -- from sample quality control using Agilent's 2100 Bioanalyzer, to sample labeling, hybridization, array scanning, feature extraction and data analysis. "The complexity of research in life sciences, and in particular in oncology, needs a comprehensive investigation of the genome," said Dr. Vladimir Lazar, head of the IGR Genomic Center and the Integrated Biology program. "Our goal is to provide an integrated, cutting-edge technology platform that enables us to investigate and to correlate CGH, CNV, gene expression and microRNA expression. This extended Certified Provider Status enables us for the first time to provide first-class and state-of-the art integrated genomic services to our customers in France and internationally." According to Prof. Jean-Charles Soria, head of the Early Therapeutics Innovations Service (SITEP), acquiring an integrated genomic vision is extremely important for IGR research programs. Such certified technology reinforcement enables IGR to conduct innovative research. "The partnership between IGR and Agilent is very comprehensive and efficient, ranging from Certified Service Provider, to European Training Center but also at the R&D level," said Michael Mc Nulty, senior director of Agilent Diagnostics. "We will considerably reinforce our partnership, and are very impressed by the efficient integration of our CGH, gene expression and miRNA technologies in the innovative research programs and efforts aiming to improve knowledge that leads to more patient-specific treatments." Frédéric Laget, Agilent senior director, Life Sciences, adds that this collaboration is unique due to the combination of the Service Provider Status with the Reference Training Center, and that many Agilent customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been trained at the IGR Genomic Center. The impact on overall quality and harmonization of procedures is very positive, he concludes. For more information about Agilent portfolio please visit .

About Institut de cancérologie Gustave Roussy

The Institut de cancérologie Gustave Roussy, Europe's leading center in the fight against cancer, is a private entity that takes part in the French public hospital service and is authorized to receive donations and legacies. It is wholly patient-oriented. Located on a single site, it employs 2,000 professionals working in care, research and teaching. Some IGR figures: 311 beds, 159 statutory doctors, 751 care givers, 161,000 consultations and 43,000 patients cared per year, 14 research units, 300 researchers, and 260 students, researchers and doctors trained per year. For more information about IGR please visit .

About IGR Genomics Center

The aim of IGR Genomics Center is to provide a fully integrated genomics investigation including Agilent CGH, CNV, one-color and dual-color gene expression, and miRNA microarray-based technologies coupled with sequencing methods and quantitative PCR methods. The center provides a unique service including assistance to study design, sample processing and QC, state-of-the art microarray experiments using standard operation procedures, and data analysis and mining in the bioinformatics and biostatistics center equipped with the latest state-of-the art tools (GeneSpring, Resolver, DNA Analytics). After completion of the experiments and analysis, strong support is offered for biological interpretation of the data. Whole services offer attractive prices and outstanding quality control to guarantee analytical data. For more information about IGR Genomic Center please visit .

About Agilent in Genomics

Agilent is a leading worldwide provider of microarray-based genomic research solutions. Agilent's end-to-end solution includes reagents for sample preparation and microarrays processing; hardware for sample QC and high throughput microarray scanning; 60-mer oligo microarrays on industry-standard 1"x3" glass slides for gene expression, comparative genomic hybridization, microRNA, splice variants and chromatin immunoprecipitation applications; custom microarray design services; and industry-leading GeneSpring software products for data analysis.