Microarray maker, Affymetrix (Santa Clara, CA) has formed a spin-off genomics unit, Perlegen Sciences, to use Affymetrix' DNA scanning technology to survey 50 human genomes a year for variations associated with multigenic disease and pharmacogenetic responses. The venture, which will create ink jet printed microarrays of SNPs or other variable regions, has received $100 million from an unnamed source. The company's technical strategy includes the separation of chromosome pairs from the genetic sample in order to allow the tracking of relatively complex haplotypes. The formation of the new company followed shortly after the acquisition of Neomorphic (Berkeley, CA), a genomic software developer, for about $70 million in stock. To some observers, Perlegen appears to have been built on the Celera model in that a new generation of a particular technology will be made available by the parent company. Whereas Celera had a short lead time of exclusive access to the ABI 3700 automated 96-capillary electrophoresis sequencers from PE Biosystems, Perlegen will initially have exclusive access to a new whole wafer gene chip technology developed by Affymetrix.