Illumina Introduces RatRef-12 Whole-Genome Expression BeadChip; Researchers Now Have Access to a Full Suite of Multi-Sample, Whole-Genome Expression Arrays at Industry-Best Pricing.

SAN DIEGO -- Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) announced today that it has begun taking orders for a new whole-genome expression product for rat that analyzes twelve samples in parallel on a single BeadChip. Content for the new RatRef-12 Expression BeadChip is derived from the NCBI RefSeq database (Release 16), with over 22,000 rat transcripts represented. The multi-sample format makes it an ideal tool for studies in toxicology, biomarker discovery and disease modeling where many samples need to be processed seamlessly and with high uniformity. With an industry-leading cost per sample of just $100, the RatRef-12 BeadChip will enable researchers to expand their experimental scale within existing project budgets.

Dominique Gauguier, researcher at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford and a principal tester of the RatRef-12 product, commented that "the RatRef-12 BeadChip provides a powerful system to acquire consistently uniform and standardized data for many samples and is a significant advance for large-scale scientific projects of biomedical relevance in the rat." Prof. Gauguier commented further that "there is good data correlation between the rat whole-genome arrays that our lab had been using previously and the RatRef-12 BeadChip, making it even easier for us to transfer our work to the RatRef-12."

"The high levels of concordance evidenced by the Federal MicroArray Quality Control Study (MAQC) and noted in the field testing of the rat product continue to validate that researchers are able to choose their gene expression platform primarily based on factors such as cost, ease of use and quality of content," said Shawn Baker, Illumina's gene expression scientific product manager. "Illumina's gene expression BeadChips were shown to consistently be among the very best performers across the various technical measurements assessed by the MAQC and are also substantially less expensive than other commercial whole-genome arrays. Our arrays simply allow researchers to do more science without sacrificing quality or budget."

In addition to its current whole-genome expression products for human and mouse, Illumina is now also offering the RatRef-12 BeadChip as a product or as a service via one of its participating service providers around the globe. For more information on providers, please refer to www.switchtoi.com.

About Illumina

Illumina (www.illumina.com) develops and markets next-generation tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company's proprietary BeadArray technology - used in leading genomics centers around the world - provides the throughput, cost effectiveness and flexibility necessary to enable researchers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries to perform the billions of tests necessary to extract medically valuable information from advances in genomics and proteomics. This information will help pave the way to personalized medicine by correlating genetic variation and gene function with particular disease states, enhancing drug discovery, allowing diseases to be detected earlier and more specifically, and permitting 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 the costs and outcome of Illumina's litigation with Affymetrix, the Company's ability to scale and integrate CyVera technology, the ability to further scale oligo synthesis output and technology to satisfy market demand deriving from the Company's collaboration with Invitrogen, Illumina's ability to further develop and commercialize its BeadArray technologies and to deploy new gene expression and genotyping products and applications for its platform technology, to manufacture robust Sentrix(R) arrays - including HumanHap BeadChips - and Oligator(R) oligonucleotides, and other factors detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its 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. Illumina disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements beyond the date of this release.