Concurrent with the annual European Human Genetics Conference in
Nice, France, Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) announced today that
IntegraGen SA, a personalized healthcare company focused on the
development and commercialization of molecular diagnostic tests for
complex diseases and provider of genetic services, has received
Illumina Certified Service Provider (CSPro(TM)) certification for
GoldenGate(R) and Infinium(R) genotyping technologies.
Illumina, a San Diego-based company, 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. The GoldenGate assay is Illumina's first
array-based platform that combines high-sample throughput, high
multiplexing, and single-site CpG resolution for DNA methylation
profiling. The Infinium Whole-Genome Genotyping BeadArray(TM) solution
offers single or multi-sample BeadChip formats and high-density
architecture with the flexibility to add additional custom SNP Assays.
"IntegraGen is a company dedicated to offering high-quality
services to other research institutes, either private or academic, and
is the first laboratory in France to achieve CSPro certification for
GoldenGate and Infinium Genotyping," said Karen Possemato, Illumina's
Director of Corporate Marketing. "By becoming a member of CSPro, they
have further demonstrated their commitment to the life science
community, providing delivery of the highest-quality data available
for genetic analysis applications."
Emmanuel Martin, IntegraGen's Director of Services and Arrays,
said: "IntegraGen is proud of its ability to leverage core
competencies and provide genetic services to the research community.
Receiving Illumina CSPro certification is an endorsement of both
Illumina and IntegraGen's commitment to quality, and provides our
customers with even greater confidence in our ability meet their
needs."
As a customer of IntegraGen, Jessica Zucman-Rossi, M.D., Ph.D.,
has been using Illumina technology in a pilot study for loss of
heterozygosity (LOH) analysis in liver tumors at the Human
Polymorphism Study Center (CEPH) in Paris. "We also chose Illumina
technology to test for promoter methylation in liver tumors because
there were a large number of genes available for testing with this
system, and the ability to quantify methylation levels is a real
advantage. My team was able to analyze a large number of samples in
each experiment, and the time taken to generate results was short,
generating a large amount of data." She added, "The results we
attained were excellent, achieving methylation profiling of 96 tumor
samples on more than 1,500 CpG. The data are robust, and we are
currently preparing a second series of samples."
About Illumina CSPro
Illumina CSPro is a collaborative service provider partnership
dedicated to ensuring the delivery of the highest-quality data
available for genetic analysis applications. Illumina CSPros undergo a
rigorous two-phase certification process that includes minimum data
generation, data certification and on-site audit of the facility and
processes. For more information about the CSPro program, please visit
www.illumina.com/cspro.
About IntegraGen
IntegraGen is a pioneer in the field of predictive healthcare. The
company uses its unique genomic analysis expertise to identify genes
associated with complex diseases and commercializes molecular
diagnostic tests to enable individualized diagnosis, prevention and
treatment.
IntegraGen's proprietary gene mapping technology GenomeHIP
provides fast, reliable, and cost-effective discovery of genetic loci.
Paired with strong biostatistics, bioinformatics and fine mapping
genotyping capabilities, IntegraGen has successfully identified and
patented genes associated with early and late onset diseases. Efforts
are currently focused on Type-2 Diabetes, Obesity, Autism and Bi-Polar
Disorder. Clinical trials for the company's first genetic test for
autism, based on internally identified genes, were carried out in Q1
2007.
Founded in July 2000, IntegraGen has 34 employees and is based in
the French Genopole of Evry, near Paris, France, in Bonn, Germany and
in New York, USA. More information can be found at www.integragen.com.
About Illumina
Illumina is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of
next-generation life science tools and integrated systems for the
large scale 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 the costs and outcome of
Illumina's litigation with Affymetrix and our ability (i) to integrate
effectively our recent acquisition of Solexa, Inc., (ii) to develop
and commercialize further our BeadArray(TM), VeraCode(TM) and
Solexa(R) technologies and to deploy new gene expression and
genotyping products and applications for our technology platforms,
(iii) to manufacture robust micro arrays and Oligator(R)
oligonucleotides, (iv) to integrate and scale our VeraCode technology,
(v) to scale further oligo synthesis output and technology to satisfy
market demand derived from our collaboration with Invitrogen, 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.