Illumina and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Embark on a Research Collaboration for the Development of Molecular Diagnostics for Newborn Screening.

Collaboration Efforts Will Lead to the Development, Validation and Commercialization of Novel Assays for Newborn Diseases

SAN DIEGO -- Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) announced today a research collaboration to develop molecular diagnostic tests to screen newborn babies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and hemoglobinopathies. These genetic diseases can lead to fatal health conditions, but can be managed and even prevented if caught at birth. The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario currently conducts screening tests for 27 diseases for all of the approximately 135,000 babies born in Ontario each year. The Newborn Screening program is expanding its screening tests this year to also include testing for cystic fibrosis.

Under the terms of the research agreement, Illumina and CHEO will initially develop assays to screen newborns for SMA and hemoglobinopathies. The tests will utilize Illumina's VeraCode([TM]) technology and run on the Company's BeadXpress([TM]) reader, scheduled for market availability before the close of the first quarter, 2007. Illumina will gain global commercialization rights to assays developed under the collaboration.

"The Newborn Screening program welcomes this research collaboration and its potential for developing novel screening strategies for spinal muscular atrophy and hemoglobinopathies. It will further strengthen the Program in Ontario, and potentially impact the lives of children well beyond," said Alex MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President of Research of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. "The era of DNA-based newborn screening is beginning, and we look forward to working with Illumina to expedite this transition, tapping the potential of their powerful technologies."

Babies with SMA lose, or never acquire the ability to walk, stand and sit. Cognition and intellect, emotional development and sensory nerves are unaffected. In more than 50 percent of affected children, death occurs before age two, and it is the number one genetic killer of infants and toddlers. There is new found hope that the disorder may now be treatable if the gene mutation that causes it is detected early.

The hemoglobinopathies are genetic conditions characterized by compromised red blood cell oxygen transport and include sickle-cell anemia and thalassemia. In sickle cell anemia, especially prevalent in African-Americans, red blood cells become crescent-shaped and unable to effectively transport oxygen. Thalassemia occurs when the red cells cannot mature and grow properly. Thalassemia typically affects people of Mediterranean, African-American, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian descent.

"Our research collaboration with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has the potential to expand the screening of newborns so that dangerous inherited diseases can be diagnosed, and one day may be treated before causing permanent harm," said Jay Flatley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Illumina. "Tests for spinal muscular atrophy and hemoglobinopathies are an important step in this direction, and we look forward to expanding our collaboration to other important markers of newborn health."

About VeraCode and BeadXpress

Illumina's VeraCode technology leverages the power of digital holographic codes to provide a robust detection method for multiplex assays requiring high precision, accuracy, and speed. This state of the art technology, combined with Illumina's BeadXpress reader, support the rapid detection and analysis of a wide range of assays with industry leading multiplexing capability.

About the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Located in Ottawa, Canada, the National Capital, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario is a 150-bed tertiary pediatric teaching hospital dedicated to the care of children and youth who require specialized pediatric health services. CHEO is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and through its Research Institute conducts leading edge research in child and youth illnesses. It was announced in November 2005 that Ontario had selected CHEO as the site for a state-of-the-art newborn screening program for the entire province.

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.