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Illumina chiefs arrive as new lab work starts

Written by News Desk

Thursday, 03 April 2008

Just 14 months on, Illumina Inc’s acquisition of Cambridge based genome sequencing firm Solexa looks like paying dividends in spades for the East of England. Chesterford Research Park has just welcomed a gathering of high profile executives from Illumina, one of the world’s leading developers, manufacturers and marketers of next generation Life Science tools and integrated systems, who donned hard hats to mark the start of construction of the Gonville Laboratory at the park. The US based company, which is currently enjoying rapid expansion, has taken a pre-let of the 41,500 sq ft laboratory to establish its European headquarters at Chesterford. Senior Vice-President of Illumina Inc, Christian Henry, was presented with an engraved stainless steel shovel by ceremony hosts and joint developers of the park Churchmanor Estates Plc and Morley Fund Management. Henry said: “South Cambridgeshire has long been a centre for developing excellent medical research and development in which Chesterford will help us play a key role in undertaking ground breaking discoveries. We have enjoyed a long standing collaborative relationship with the park’s management who genuinely understands the needs of research-based companies. “This is coupled with state of the art support facilities that ensure our staff enjoy working here and look forward to moving into our new facility.” Illumina acquired Solexa in January 2007. Solexa has been established at Chesterford Research Park since October 2000. Since that time, Chesterford has assisted the company’s growth through the provision of different types of laboratory and office accommodation. The Gonville Laboratory will incorporate the latest design requirements for Illumina resulting in a highly flexible building that caters for the company’s technological needs. Solexa developed systems for the comprehensive and economical analysis of individual genomes. The ability to read individual genomes quickly and economically will be a fundamental tool in the development of the biological and medical sciences in the 21st century. Solexa’s ultimate goal is to reduce the cost of human resequencing to a few thousand dollars and achieve the so-called ‘$1,000 genome’ for use in a wide range of applications from basic research through clinical diagnostics. A Solexa source revealed that further strong growth is around the corner, so more expansion at Illumina’s new Cambridge base looks certain. Amadeus Capital Partners, the Cambridge VC firm, is backing the business to achieve world dominance. Amadeus has been involved with Solexa since a Series ‘A’ financing round in 2001 and has been very active in working to develop the business. Following completion of the Solexa acquisition by Illumina, Amadeus holds Illumina common stock. An Amadeus insider said: “This is a really exciting business. Illumina specialises in the analysis of genetic variation and function, focusing on developing next generation tools that will allow scientists to understand gen-omes and their functions and will help make the realisation of personalised medicine possible.” Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 766 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.

 

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