SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2006--Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN - News) announced today that investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School will utilize data from Sentrix® HumanHap300 BeadChips and Infinium® assay reagents to perform a 2,200-sample case/control whole-genome association study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a rapidly progressing, fatal disorder that attacks the motor neurons of the brain and spinal cord. Over one half million patients worldwide have been diagnosed with the disease, for which there is no cure.
The study will be supervised by Dr. Robert Brown of MGH and Harvard Medical School, and by Dr. Adrian Ivinson, Director of the School's Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair (HCNR). Infinium genotyping on Illumina's genetic analysis system will be conducted at The Broad Institute under the direction of Dr. Stacey Gabriel. Each HumanHap300 BeadChip offers broad genomic coverage and queries over 315,000 tagSNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms with high per-marker statistical value) while delivering industry-leading data quality.
Dr. Ivinson asserts that this will be the largest genetic study to date of ALS. The study is projected to provide significant insight into the etiology, or genetic cause of the disease, and is expected to lead to improved diagnosis, earlier intervention and ultimately, more effective treatment.
Jay Flatley, Illumina President and CEO, stated, "ALS seems indiscriminate in its selection and is currently inevitable in its outcome. We're proud to be able to support this scientific effort aimed at unmasking the genetic cause of this tragic disease."
More information about the organizations and investigators conducting the study can be found at the following sites: http://www.hcnr.med.harvard.edu/ (Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair) and http://www.broad.mit.edu/ (The Broad Institute).
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.
"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, the Company's ability to scale and integrate CyVera technology, the ability to further scale oligo synthesis output and technology to satisfy market demand deriving from the Company's collaboration with Invitrogen, Illumina's ability to further develop and commercialize its BeadArray technologies and to deploy new gene expression and genotyping products and applications for its platform technology, to manufacture robust Sentrix® arrays -- including HumanHap BeadChips -- and Oligator® oligonucleotides, and other factors detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its 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. Illumina disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements beyond the date of this release.
Contact:
Illumina, Inc. Jay Flatley, 858-202-4501 President & CEO jflatley@illumina.com or Karen Possemato, 858-202-4575 Associate Director of Marketing kpossemato@illumina.com