Illumina Expands Product Portfolio to Support Oncology Clinical Research and Discovery

Illumina, Inc. has announced new products that can be applied directly to the discovery and translation of genomic variation in blood and tissue associated with cancer. The expanded portfolio leverages the company’s industry-leading next-generation sequencing (NGS) and microarray scanning systems to deliver sample-to-data solutions for basic and clinical cancer research.

New Product Additions
The following products complement the company’s existing NGS and array portfolio and support efficient and streamlined workflows for cancer research and other applications using Illumina’s NGS sequencers, including the newly launched NextSeq™ 500 sequencing system.

TruSeq® RNA Access Library Prep Kits offer a reproducible, economical solution for analyzing RNA isolated from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues, and other low-quality samples. Starting with as little as 10 ng total RNA, the kits deliver the discovery power of RNA sequencing at a reduced cost by focusing on the coding regions of the transcriptome. The kits will begin shipping this month. In addition, the kits will be available on the NeoPrepTM Library Prep System in 2H 2014.

TruSight™ Myeloid Sequencing Panel uses expert-curated content to offer accurate, efficient, and cost-effective identification of somatic mutations in myeloid malignancies. It provides an assessment of 54 critical genes, including tumor suppressor genes and hotspots in oncogenes. This fully integrated DNA-to-data solution offers a streamlined workflow and automated data analysis with somatic variant calling. The panel will begin shipping in Q2 2014.

New BaseSpace® Core Apps offer informatics support for the cancer market. The TopHat and Cufflinks Apps, as well as the RNA Express App, are designed to support transcriptome data analysis, including detection of fusion genes critical in cancer research. A Tumor Normal App delivers somatic variant calling of tumor and matched normal whole genome data sets based on the accurate Strelka method. In addition, Illumina is developing apps to analyze data from Illumina’s TruSight Tumor Sequencing Panel and TruSeq Amplicon -Cancer Panel, as well as an exome version of the Tumor Normal App that delivers variants (including copy number variations) based on Nextera® Rapid Capture Enrichment data. The RNA-Seq and Tumor Normal Apps will be available early this month in BaseSpace, and the others will be available later in 2014.

“The adoption of a precision cancer medicine, a clinical paradigm based on genetic assessment of a patient’s cancer, is rapidly occurring,” said Hanlee Ji, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and Senior Associate Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center. “As a physician-scientist who is actively developing and applying novel sequencing approaches in the clinical oncology setting, Illumina’s NGS systems are instrumental tools. The advances in NGS with improved sequence quality and dramatic reduction in cost will continue to enable progress in oncology and genomic medicine.”

“The latest additions to our product portfolio address the unique needs of oncology researchers,” said Rick Klausner, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Illumina. “Our product solutions now support library preparation of the low-input, poor-quality archival tissue samples that are so valuable for cancer research. We’re accelerating the discovery of cancer-associated variants with simple-to-use data analysis solutions, including software tools that support the creation of genotypic/phenotypic databases. Our goal is to expand the use of NGS beyond basic research, delivering relevant oncological genomic information to clinical researchers where it has the potential to inform improvements in cancer care.”