New Capacity Will Triple BGI’s Rate of Whole-Genome Sequencing Projects

SAN DIEGO–Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN – News) today announced that in early March Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) purchased 11 Genome Analyzers, increasing the organization’s total number of the Illumina sequencing systems to 17. BGI is the fourth genome center to expand its Genome Analyzer install base to double digits. As a result of recent enhancements to the Genome Analyzer, BGI researchers will have the capacity to sequence more than two human genomes to 25x coverage per week. This significant increase in throughput will expand BGI’s capacity for sequencing services to the local genetic research labs, as well as broaden the range and pace of sequencing projects undertaken by the organization, such as the YangHuang 99 project, the 1000 Genomes Project, the Giant Panda Project, the tree of life project, and numerous other large-scale initiatives.

“BGI is focused on accelerating the rate of scientific discovery, and expanding our understanding of genetic variation and diversity across human genomes. We have worked closely with Illumina to determine ways to dramatically increase our sequencing capacity in order to efficiently and quickly complete several new large sequencing projects,” stated Xiuqing Zhang, Director of the Sequencing Division of the Beijing Genomics Institute. “After rigorously testing this sequencing platform, we opted to purchase the additional Genome Analyzers because of the machine’s enhanced level of performance, price, and ease of use. Combined with the longer 500bp reads from other platforms, Illumina is the most suitable high throughput sequencing platform for accurate de novo genome sequencing. The collaborative relationship that we established with Illumina this past year also played a significant role in our decision to scale up to 17 Genome Analyzers.”

BGI is among the world’s leading scientific organizations, and aims to advance the understanding of biology and medicine through the use of large-scale sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. The institute also offers sequencing services to the international community. BGI promotes the use of genome-scale scientific approaches and strongly supports collaborative efforts in order to achieve this goal.

“BGI’s decision to acquire 11 additional Genome Analyzers is further validation that our sequencing platform is delivering leading performance, and becoming the sequencing platform of choice,” said Christian Henry, Acting General Manager of Illumina’s Sequencing Business. “With its unmatched rate of daily output, ease of use, and proven paired-end sequencing capability, the Genome Analyzer will continue to provide the scalable solution researchers need to complete projects that were not possible one year ago.”

Designed for facilities of all sizes, the Genome Analyzer has experienced rapid adoption across genome centers worldwide, including individual research labs, core and service facilities, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Specified to generate more than three gigabases of high-quality data over a five-day paired-end read run, the Genome Analyzer offers the highest rate of daily output and the simplest and most user friendly workflow. The Genome Analyzer also offers the broadest set of supported applications, including those used to profile and discover novel miRNA, to create a high-resolution genome-wide map of DNA-protein binding sites, or to sequence a whole-human genome to greater than 30x coverage. The system’s groundbreaking capabilities are further validated by the continuing stream of customer peer-reviewed publications, now numbering more than 50.

About Illumina

Illumina (www.illumina.com) 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 Illumina’s ability (i) to integrate effectively our recent acquisition of Solexa, Inc., (ii) to develop and commercialize further our BeadArray™, VeraCode®, and Solexa® technologies and to deploy new sequencing, gene expression, and genotyping products and applications for our technology platforms, (iii) to manufacture robust microarrays and Oligator® oligonucleotides, (iv) to integrate and scale our VeraCode technology, 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.