Illumina To Conduct Large-Scale SNP Genotyping Services For GlaxoSmithKline
Use of Illumina's BeadArray(TM) Technology as the Common Platform For Individual Genotyping in Pharmacogenetic Studies
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, September 19, 2002 -- Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) announced today that it has signed a collaborative, commercial genotyping services agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to develop a large set of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers into validated SNP assays. Illumina will further develop these assays into a whole-genome linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping product. This product will be deployed on Illumina's BeadArray(TM) platform and used by GSK to provide association studies. GSK plans to use the validated SNP assays to genotype patient samples and disease populations and will evaluate the use of high-density SNP association studies for identification of disease loci in pharmacogenetics studies.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will jointly establish performance criteria, evaluate the candidate SNP markers and select an extensive set for assay development. Assay development will occur over several months to create a high-quality, high-density LD map.
The development of LD maps is an important tool for expanding the role of genotyping within the drug development process. The ability to screen large numbers of individual patient samples against a genome-wide LD map in a low-cost, high-throughput manner, will allow researchers to better understand the role genetic variation plays in disease susceptibility and therapeutic response.
Jay Flatley, Illumina President & CEO, stated, "We're very pleased to be working with GSK in such a seminal area of genomics research and we're particularly excited by the opportunity to build one of the industry's first high-quality linkage disequilibrium maps. Illumina's BeadArray-based genotyping service offers industry-leading sample throughput and unparalleled multiplex levels - factors critical to the acceleration of understanding of genetic variation and function. The results of this research will provide the foundation for standard genotyping products that we will offer to our services and systems customers."
Pharmaceutical firms like GSK are expanding the scale of research devoted to identifying and studying genetic variations (SNPs), whose statistical frequency of occurrence between individuals and chromosomal locations may --- individually or collectively - implicate specific disease genes and point the way to improved diagnostic and therapeutic development.
Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN; www.illumina.com) is developing next-generation tools that permit large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company's proprietary BeadArray technology provides the throughput, cost effectiveness and flexibility necessary to enable researchers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries to perform the billions of tests necessary to extract medically valuable information from advances in genomics and proteomics. Illumina's technology will have applicability across a wide variety of industries beyond life sciences and pharmaceuticals, including agriculture, food, chemicals and petrochemicals. |
