Sequenom Announces Multi-Year Supply Agreement With Illumina

Sequenom, Inc. SQNM today announced it has signed a three-year supply agreement with Illumina ILMN. Under the terms of the agreement, Sequenom and its subsidiaries will purchase Illumina's sequencing equipment and consumables for use in the development of a noninvasive test designed to detect an overabundance of chromosome 21 in pregnant women, a result associated with fetal Down syndrome. Sequenom and Illumina will work collaboratively toward the submission for regulatory approval of an in vitro diagnostic product for the detection of fetal chromosomal abnormalities. "We are pleased to announce this new partnership with Illumina, a leader in genetic sequencing systems, as we advance our role in developing and commercializing prenatal diagnostics," said Harry F. Hixson, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Sequenom, Inc. "This agreement is an important step in bringing our proprietary trisomy test to market, giving us the scalability, speed to market and supply chain necessary to address the commercial opportunity of our noninvasive prenatal test for trisomy 21."