New Panel to Provide Support During Onset of Flu Season in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic

San Francisco, CA — As the world continues to battle COVID-19, health officials are preparing for the possibility of more co-infections with the onset of the Flu Season. Studies show a high frequency of co-infections in patients with SARS-CoV-2. In an effort to help labs better identify respiratory pathogens and avoid overuse of antimicrobial drugs, IDbyDNA and Illumina, Inc. (Nasdaq: ILMN) are co-launching the new Respiratory Pathogen ID/AMR Target Enrichment Assay for Research Use Only.

IDbyDNA’s strategic partnership with Illumina, Inc. aims to accelerate and improve testing for infectious diseases, including COVID-19. The team will leverage IDbyDNA’s Explify® Platform and Illumina’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology to deliver the most comprehensive detection of respiratory pathogens and the first one based on next-generation sequencing (NGS). In addition to targeting nearly 300 pathogens, the panel can also detect genes associated with antimicrobial resistance markers, providing insight into how the misuse of antimicrobials can lead to antibiotic resistance.

“Patients with COVID-19, influenza, and other respiratory diseases often suffer from coinfections that may worsen symptoms and frequently can be treated if identified. Targeted metagenomics and next-generation sequencing can detect pathogens much more comprehensively than was possible just a few years ago,” said Dr. Robert Schlaberg, cofounder and Chief Medical Officer of IDbyDNA. “IDbyDNA and Illumina’s technologies allow laboratories to find not just the suspected pathogens but also any co-infecting viruses, bacteria, or fungi that may require special treatment. Sequencing pathogen genomes also allows genetic profiling of SARS-CoV-2, influenza viruses, and other pathogens to support surveillance and containment efforts.”

“Illumina’s partnership with IDbyDNA will allow labs to more accurately and comprehensively identify respiratory co-infections and profile antibiotic resistance all at the same time,” said Kathy Davy, Vice President of Clinical Marketing at Illumina. “With IDbyDNA’s simple and powerful bioinformatics software coupled with Illumina’s proven NGS-based solutions, we can better understand respiratory co-infections as we head into the fall flu season and we continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Leveraging Illumina’s MiniSeq™ Rapid Reagent Kit, the Respiratory Pathogen ID/AMR Target Enrichment Panel delivers rapid detection in less than 24 hours from sample-to-result. The panel, which encompasses nearly 300 bacteria, fungi and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and more than 1,200 antibiotic resistance markers, is much broader than available PCR tests. Multipathogen detection and antimicrobial resistance can all be delivered in one test, eliminating the need for multiple platforms and technologies, making the cost of the test comparable to PCR.

The Explify Platform simultaneously profiles tens of thousands of microorganisms and pathogens in any sample to deliver actionable information to healthcare providers. The proprietary Explify database includes millions of curated DNA and RNA reference sequences and can identify more than 50,000 microorganisms and over 6,000 known common and rare pathogens, including antimicrobial resistance.

For more information about the kit, visit https://www.illumina.com/products/by-type/sequencingkits/library-prep-kits/respiratory-pathogen-id-panel.html

About the Respiratory Pathogen ID/AMR Target Enrichment Panel

The Respiratory Pathogen ID/AMR Target Enrichment Panel includes respiratory pathogen ID/AMR panel, with detection for 1200+ AMR markers, 180+ bacteria, 50+ fungi, 40+ viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and 10 internal controls. Also features DNA and RNA library prep and enrichment, IDT for Illumina DNA/RNA UD indexes, tagmentation, plus data interpretation reports (powered by the IDbyDNA Explify® Platform).

About Illumina

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit www.illumina.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

About IDbyDNA

IDbyDNA is revolutionizing the use of clinical metagenomics to improve health by decoding the unknown. IDbyDNA’s product suite delivers unparalleled data analytics and industry-leading expertise to support medical laboratories with actionable infectious disease testing and pathogen surveillance. By profiling tens of thousands of microorganisms from any specimen with a scalable and intuitive approach, IDbyDNA empowers healthcare providers with greater depth and transparency for better identification of pathogens in order to accelerate triage and treatment and improve public health.For more information, visit www.idbydna.com or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Vimeo or YouTube.