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Biotech / Medical : Illumina (ILMN) Optics for Genomics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mopgcw who wrote (15)	1/9/2002 9:01:20 AM
From: mopgcw	Respond to of 276

Illumina Triples Oligator Oligonucleotide Synthesis Manufacturing Capacity Plate-Size Customer Pricing Reduced to $0.18 Per Base For Standard Products SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 2, 2002--Illumina, Inc. (Nasdaq:ILMN - news) announced today that it has commissioned new oligonucleotide (oligo) manufacturing capacity that nearly triples previous output rates to well over 5 million DNA sequences per year. The additional capacity, based on proprietary Oligator(TM) technology, is designed to serve the plate-size oligo market that is growing rapidly due to the accelerated pace and larger scale of genomic studies. Illumina also uses oligos for its genotyping services business built on the BeadArray(TM) technology platform and for the assembly of Sentrix(TM) bead-based microarray product offerings. ``We have made significant improvements over the last six months in our oligo manufacturing operations,'' stated Jay Flatley, Illumina President and CEO. ``In addition to new capacity, we have implemented numerous automation enhancements including bar coding, integration of an information management (LIMS) database system and high-throughput QC methods. These changes have helped us continue to reduce our manufacturing costs and as a result, we plan to lower plate-size oligo pricing to $0.18 per base for our standard products during the first quarter of 2002,'' Flatley added. Availability of inexpensive oligos is fundamental to development of many genomic applications, including high-throughput genotyping. For example, the detection of a single SNP requires three to five oligos depending on the assay technique, and there are millions of SNPs in the human genome alone. 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(TM) technology will provide 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. Illumina's technology will have applicability across a wide variety of industries beyond life sciences and pharmaceuticals, including agriculture, food, chemicals and petrochemicals. Parties interested in Illumina's oligo services and pricing should visit the Company's website at illumina.com.