Illumina and ReaMetrix to Collaborate on Molecular Diagnostics and Market Development
Thursday July 20, 6:00 am ET
ReaMetrix Secures Non-Exclusive License to Market Diagnostic Panels in India
SAN DIEGO & SAN CARLOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 20, 2006--Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN - News) and ReaMetrix, Inc. announced today the formation of a diagnostic collaboration under which the companies plan to co-develop molecular diagnostic panels for a range of disease areas. Under the terms of the agreement, ReaMetrix will gain non-exclusive rights to market the resulting panels to the country of India and its more than one billion inhabitants. Illumina will retain rights to market the tests outside of India.
ADVERTISEMENT
Illumina will supply VeraCode(TM) technology and other reagents for the tests. ReaMetrix will develop, validate and market diagnostic panels based on Illumina's upcoming BeadXpress(TM) platform, scheduled for market introduction before the end of the calendar year.
ReaMetrix will drive market development activities from its operation in Bangalore, India. According to Bala Manian, Ph.D., ReaMetrix Chief Executive Officer, "India's rapidly emerging healthcare system presents a tremendous opportunity to leapfrog current diagnostics and chart a new path with innovative molecular and pharmacogenomic testing. Teaming up with Illumina and its BeadXpress diagnostic platform, we see a significant opportunity to drive the evolution toward the efficiencies inherent in targeted, personalized medicine. In targeting the wide-open Indian market, we will be creating products that will drive value the world over."
According to Jay Flatley, President and CEO of Illumina, "Many of us in the genomics community know Bala Manian from past lives. Bala is a true visionary and we're looking forward to working closely with him and his team to develop and validate novel diagnostic panels that will help predict the risk of disease, enable earlier intervention and guide therapy. For Illumina, this agreement represents another important step forward into the clinical diagnostics market."
About Illumina
Illumina (www.illumina.com) develops and markets next-generation tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company's proprietary BeadArray technology -- used in leading genomics centers around the world -- 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. This information will help pave the way to personalized medicine by correlating genetic variation and gene function with particular disease states, enhancing drug discovery, allowing diseases to be detected earlier and more specifically, and permitting better choices of drugs for individual patients.
About ReaMetrix
ReaMetrix (www.reametrix.com) is committed to becoming the leading provider of high-quality research and diagnostic assay solutions resulting in a transformation of the cost opportunities available in India into value for both the biotechnology and global health sectors. ReaMetrix' business model leverages local resources to address local markets, and the Company believes that its market understanding gives it a competitive advantage in understanding and serving India as well as other developing nations. |
