Illumina Announces a New Genotyping Array and Scientific Contribution to Three Genome Centers to Support the All of Us Research Program

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) today announced the launch of its new high-density genotyping array, the Infinium Global Diversity Array. This new array was developed for and inspired by the All of Us Research Program. The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to gather data from one million or more people living in the United States, to accelerate human disease research and improve health. The All of Us Research Program is one of the country’s most ambitious biomedical research efforts ever undertaken. It aims to build a nationwide community of at least one million participants from all walks of life, including groups that have been historically underrepresented in research.

In September, the All of Us Research Program awarded funds totaling $28.6 million to three genome centers around the country. These centers will generate genomic data from biosamples contributed by the program’s participants. Ultimately, this information will become a critical component in the program’s precision medicine research platform, a national resource to support studies on a variety of important health questions. The All of Us Research Program is funded and led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Recognizing the significant impact that this project will have on the future of healthcare, Illumina is making a scientific contribution to the program by providing the new Infinium Global Diversity Array to process up to 1 million samples to the three genome centers, at no charge. The new array will be a high-density chip that has been designed to enable achievement of the primary genotyping-based goals of the project. Those goals are unparalleled coverage of a highly diverse cohort and the ability to return results to participants such as those indicated by the ACMG-59 Gene List and key pharmacogenomic variants. Some of these genes are associated with potentially life-threatening health conditions, ranging from familial hypercholesterolemia, to breast and ovarian cancer. The array will become commercially available for others to use in mid-2019.

“A core value of the All of Us Research Program is to reflect the rich diversity of the United States. Including people who have been underrepresented in biomedical research will help researchers understand existing health disparities and ensure that everyone can benefit from future breakthroughs,” commented Eric Dishman.