Illumina收购Epicentre Biotechnologies 供应核酸样品制备试剂和酶

Illumina公布它已经收购了Epicentre生物技术公司，这是一家核酸样品制备试剂以及酶的供给商，其产品广泛应用于测序和芯片领域。交易的金融条款未透露。

位于美国威斯康星州麦迪逊的Epicentre生物技术公司成立于1987年，是分子生物学产品的制造商和销售商，其产品广泛应用于RNA扩增及基因表达分析，基于转座子的遗传分析，核酸纯化，DNA序列分析，PCR及RT-PCR扩增，DNA及RNA修饰酶，基因组克隆，体外转录，以及蛋白质研究和纯化等领域。另外，公司拥有广泛的分子生物学产品生产线，可为客户提供蛋白质定制服务。

Illumina表示，收购的核心部分是Epicentre专利的Nextera™技术，它适用于新一代测序的文库制备。研究职员可使用Nextera技术在15分钟内从基因组DNA制成测序文库。而文库构建的传统方法经常需要几个小时的手工操纵。

此外，Nextera技术所需的DNA起始量是其他方法的1/100-1/10。因此，它特别适合样品量有限的应用，如肿瘤活检、降解的DNA或纯化的RNA。Nextera技术的这些独特特征为推动新一代测序发展非常关键。

Illumina公司总裁兼CEOJayFlatley表示：“随着新一代测序的通量和用度不断改善，样品制备也亟待改善，比如降低用度，处理更多样品，减少手工操纵及整体的处理时间。Nextera技术让文库制备逐步改善，有看使测序应用更易用、用度更低、周转时间更快。”

据Illumina透露，合并后的公司将为新一代测序、芯片和实时定量PCR应用提供了端对真个解决方案。Epicentre在酶工程和样品制备试剂开发上的能力将与Illumina的核心平台互为补充，以全面解决研究职员在遗传分析上的需求。

据《福布斯》杂志先容，在所有医学类股票中，近五年表现最佳者即为Illumina公司。自2005年末以来，这家DNA测序设备主要生产商为投资者带来了近800%的总回报率，年均高达50%，这得益于该公司销售增长了12倍，从2005年的7,300万美元增至往年的约8.79亿美元。该公司目前的盈利为7,200万美元，但高盛估计，这个数字到2012年将增至3倍。

IlluminaAcquiresEpicentreBiotechnologies,LeADIngProviderofNucleicAcidSamplePreparationReagentsandSpecialtyEnzymes

CombinationEnhancesIllumina"sSamplePreparationandEnzymePortfolio

SANDIEGO,Jan11,2011(BUSINESSWIRE)--

Illumina,Inc.(NASDAQ:ILMN)todayannouncedthatithasacquiredEpicentreBiotechnologies,aleadingproviderofnucleicacidsamplepreparationreagentsandspecialtyenzymesusedinsequencingandmicroarrayapplications.AkeycomponentoftheacquisitionisdirectaccesstoEpicentre"sproprietaryNextera(TM)technologyfornext-generationsequencinglibrarypreparation,whichgreatlysimplifiesgeneticanalysisworkflowsandreducestimefromsamplepreparationtoanswer.

"Asnext-generationsequencingcontinuestoimproveinthroughputandcost,there"sacriticalneedforsamplepreptoevolveaswell,tolowercosts,handlehighersamplevolumesandreducebothhands-onandoverallprocessingtime,"saidJayFlatley,PresidentandCEOofIllumina."Epicentre"sNexteratechnologyprovidesastep-changeimprovementinlibraryprepthatwilltranslateintogreatereaseofuse,lowercosts,andfasterturnaroundtimesforsequencingapplications.InadditiontoNextera,EpicentreisaleadingsupplierofspecialtyenzymesandkitsthatarebeneficialtoIllumina"stechnologies."

TherapidadoptionofNexterasequencingsampleprepkitsbyexistingIlluminasequencingcustomersisindicativeofthecosteffectiveness,easeofuse,andefficiencyofNexteratechnology.Withthispatentedtechnology,researcherscanpreparesequencer-readylibrariesfromgenomicDNAwithlessthan15minutesofhands-ontime-asignificanttimesavingcomparedtoalternatemethods.Inaddition,Nexteratechnologyrequires10-100timeslessstartingDNA,whichenablesapplicationswithlimitedstartingmaterialsuchastumorbiopsies,degradedDNA,orpurifiedRNA.TheseuniquefeaturesofNexterasequencinglibraryprepkitsareallcriticaltoadvancingtheevolutionofnext-generationsequencing.

Thecombinedcompanywillbeuniquelypositionedtoofferanend-to-endsolutionfornext-generationsequencing,microarray,andrealtimePCRapplications.Epicentre"suniquecapABIlitiesinenzymeengineeringandsamplepreparationreagentdevelopmentwillcomplementIllumina"scoreplatformexpertisetocomprehensivelyaddresstheneedsofresearchersacrosstheirentiregeneticanalysisworkflow.

AboutIllumina

Illumina(http://www.illumina.com)isaleadingdeveloper,manufacturer,andmarketeroflifesciencetoolsandintegratedsystemsforlarge-scaleanalysisofgeneticvariationandfunction.Weprovideinnovativesequencingandarray-basedsolutionsforgenotyping,copynumbervariationanalysis,methylationstudies,geneexpressionprofiling,andlow-multiplexanalysisofDNA,RNA,andprotein.Wealsoprovidetoolsandservicesthatarefuelingadvancesinconsumergenomicsanddiagnostics.Ourtechnologyandproductsaccelerategeneticanalysisresearchanditsapplication,pavingthewayformolecularmedicineandultimatelytransforminghealthcare.

Forward-LookingStatements

Thisreleasecontainsforward-lookingstatementsthatinvolverisksanduncertainties.Importantfactorsthatcouldcauseactualresultstodiffermateriallyfromthoseinanyforward-lookingstatementsincludechallengesinherentinintegratingEpicentrewithourexistingoperationsandtheotherfactorsthataredetailedinourfilingswiththeSecuritiesandExchangeCommission,includingourmostrecentfilingsonForms10-Kand10-Q,orininformationdisclosedinpublicconferencecalls,thedateandtimeofwhicharereleasedbeforehand.Wedonotintendtoupdateanyforward-lookingstatementsafterthedateofthisrelease.

SOURCE:Illumina,Inc.