Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) today unveiled a new product for DNA Analysis: the Infinium(R) HD Human660W-Quad BeadChip. This four-sample BeadChip features 2.6 million genetics markers and was developed in collaboration with The Centre for Applied Genomics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom. The Human660W-Quad BeadChip builds on the content from Illumina’s HumanHap550+ BeadChip to target over 5,000 regions in the human genome known to be associated with copy number variation (CNV). First customer shipments of the Human660W-Quad are expected in December 2008.
“When conducting whole-genome disease association studies, we want to ensure that we incorporate not only SNPs, but also coverage of common CNV regions in the genome. For that reason, we included 5,000 common CNV regions discovered as part of the Genome Structural Variation consortium on this array. Our goal is to identify those regions that may play a causative role in common diseases such as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and asthma,” said Matt Hurles, Ph.D., of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
The Human660W-Quad and Human1M-Duo BeadChips are being used by researchers for a new 90,000 sample initiative funded by the Wellcome Trust. This new series of genome-wide association studies is collectively the world’s largest genetic research initiative to date, and is expected to uncover more than 120 billion points of genetic information.
“Recent studies confirm that copy number variation adds another layer of complexity to the human genome and can be directly correlated to the development of various human diseases. With the Human660W-Quad BeadChip we have the ability to link common structural variation with a diverse range of phenotypes,” says David van Heel, Ph.D., Professor of Gastrointestinal Genetics at Barts and The London School of Medicine. “We have published SNP associations in celiac disease using the HumanHap300 BeadChip and believe that the addition of known common CNV content to the Human660W-Quad BeadChip is a natural progression for our research needs. The multi-sample format of the array combined with a simple workflow will save us study time and allow us to rapidly publish our data.”
Infinium HD products dramatically increase sample throughput and reduce handling time in the lab, with industry-leading data quality that reduces errors and data mining tasks. Additionally, HD BeadChips require 70 percent less DNA input per sample.
“Recent studies confirm that copy number variation plays a vital role in the development of complex human diseases. The base content of the Human660W-Quad BeadChip has been successfully used in over 30 studies linking various SNPs to a wide range of diseases and phenotypes,” said Joel McComb, General Manager of Illumina’s Life Sciences Business Unit. “By collaborating with researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute we expanded our High-Density product line to include a product that specifically helps researchers incorporate pre-selected common CNV regions into their association studies.”
About Infinium High-Density (HD) DNA Analysis
Illumina’s genotyping solutions offer a flexible BeadChip design and high-density architecture. The revolutionary Infinium HD Assay combined with the Infinium HD BeadChip allows large-scale interrogation of variations in the human genome, accelerating the ability of researchers to cost-effectively unlock the genetic basis of disease. Infinium HD products provide a powerful complement to Illumina’s genotyping offering. For more information on Illumina’s HD genotyping products, please visit www.illumina.com/dna.
About The Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the United Kingdom (UK). It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around GBP 650 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing. More information about The Wellcome Trust can be accessed at www.wellcome.ac.uk.
About Illumina
Illumina (www.illumina.com) is a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of next-generation life-science tools and integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. Using our proprietary technologies, we provide a comprehensive line of products and services that currently serve the sequencing, genotyping, and gene expression markets, and we expect to enter the market for molecular diagnostics. Our customers include leading genomic research centers, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, clinical research organizations, and biotechnology companies. Our tools provide researchers around the world with the performance, throughput, cost effectiveness, and flexibility necessary to perform the billions of genetic tests needed to extract valuable medical information from advances in genomics and proteomics. We believe this information will enable researchers to correlate genetic variation and biological function, which will enhance drug discovery and clinical research, allow diseases to be detected earlier, and permit better choices of drugs for individual patients.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: this release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements are Illumina’s ability (i) to develop and commercialize further our BeadArray(TM), VeraCode(R), and Solexa(R) technologies and to deploy new sequencing, gene expression, and genotyping products and applications for our technology platforms, (ii) to manufacture robust instrumentation and reagents technology, together with other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including our recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q or in information disclosed in public conference calls, the date and time of which are released beforehand. We disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements beyond the date of this release.
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