Illumina Expands Its 'Circle of Friends' at CIIE to Co-Build Infinite Possibilities in the Genomics Industry

November 5, 2022, Shanghai, China – Today, Illumina, the global leader in gene sequencing and array technology, made its appearance at the 5th China International Import Expo (hereinafter referred to as the “CIIE”) under the theme “Boundless Dreams, Limitless Innovation.” On the opening day, Illumina premiered its major global new product, the NovaSeq™ X Plus high-throughput sequencer, marking its “global debut” and “Asian premiere” at the CIIE. This marks Illumina’s third consecutive year participating in the CIIE, where it will forge new connections with more partners across industry, academia, research, healthcare, and investment sectors, jointly promoting a thriving new landscape for China’s biogenetics industry.

Illumina Booth at the 5th China International Import Expo

Li Qing, Global Senior Vice President and General Manager of Greater China at Illumina, stated, “As a vital link closely connecting the Chinese market with global enterprises, the on-schedule holding of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) sends a positive signal of China’s continued opening-up and its commitment to sharing new opportunities for high-quality development. As both a beneficiary and a driver of the booming life sciences and genetic testing industry in China, Illumina looks forward to leveraging the bridge of integration and connectivity built by the CIIE to accelerate the localization of innovative achievements and advanced technologies in China, thereby meeting growing demands in scientific research and clinical applications, and enabling more people to benefit from the transformative advances brought by genomics.”

Li Qing, Senior Vice President, Global, and General Manager, Greater China, at Illumina

As a pioneer in the field of genomics, Illumina has consistently upheld its mission to “improve human health through the power of genetics.” Through years of focused and sustained innovation, it has led the reduction of gene sequencing costs at a rate surpassing Moore’s Law, thereby driving scientific research advancements and clinical development in life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, genetic medicine, microbiology, agriculture, and other emerging fields.

Illumina will showcase its major new product, the NovaSeq™ X Plus, making its global debut and Asian premiere at this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE). As Illumina’s highest-throughput, highest-capacity, and most sustainable high-throughput sequencer to date, the NovaSeq™ X Plus further reduces the cost of sequencing a single human whole genome from $600 five years ago to $200, enabling larger-scale sequencing and a broader range of research applications, thereby accelerating the widespread adoption of genomic sequencing technologies.

Upon its debut, the NovaSeq™ X Plus garnered widespread attention and achieved a centralized signing ceremony on the first day of the China International Import Expo (CIIE), winning the favor of its inaugural cohort of signed users, including Decode DNA, ZhenDa Bio, Novogene, Berry Genomics, Annoroad Gene Technology, the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Biopharmaceutical Public Service Platform, and New Horizon Health. As a new benchmark in the field of gene sequencing, the NovaSeq™ X Plus will pioneer broad application prospects for gene sequencing in China.

Unveiling Ceremony of the New NovaSeq™ X Plus

Over the years, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) has forged a resilient bond and circular ecosystem for exhibitors and buyers, characterized by “promoting innovation through cooperation and strengthening cooperation through innovation.” In China, Illumina is also committed to building and expanding its industrial “circle of friends” to accelerate the implementation of high-quality applications. During this year’s CIIE, Illumina expects to reach a series of cooperation agreements or letters of intent with nearly 30 Chinese genetic testing institutions and commercial partners across multiple market segments, achieving new breakthroughs in the depth, breadth, and models of collaboration.

● Illumina will establish a deep strategic partnership with Yugo Bio to jointly advance the localization of the versatile desktop sequencer NextSeq™ 2000, introduce innovative products to China, empower local industrial innovation, and collaboratively shape a high-quality industry development landscape.

● Illumina will enter into a strategic cooperation agreement with Helios, advancing in parallel across both research and clinical domains to accelerate the implementation and widespread adoption of high-quality applications and innovative outcomes.

● Illumina will partner with Hainan Yiling to establish the first “Boao Yiling–Illumina Precision Diagnostics Demonstration Center” and “Boao Yiling–Illumina Gene Sequencing Technology Training Base,” leveraging cutting-edge technologies to jointly promote the development of precision medicine and the broader health industry.

● Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University; Donh Medical; and Illumina will establish a tripartite strategic partnership to fully leverage their respective strengths and expertise, promote the development of precision medicine in China, and ultimately enhance patient benefits.

Meanwhile, Illumina is leveraging its momentum to bring more partners from its industrial “ecosystem” onto the CIIE stage, further deepening a new paradigm of innovation in the genomics sector. For the first time, the annual Illumina NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing) Industry Summit will be held concurrently with the China International Import Expo (CIIE), gathering over 300 distinguished guests—including scholars in genomics, clinical experts, representatives from innovative life sciences companies, investors, and industry observers—to jointly explore the application value and development prospects of gene sequencing technologies in life sciences research and the healthcare industry.

As a key platform for promoting international trade exchanges and signaling openness and cooperation, the China International Import Expo (CIIE) has provided multinational corporations with timely opportunities to further expand into the Chinese market. The CIIE’s strong spillover and driving effects have become a significant impetus for Illumina to increase its local investment and accelerate its localization process. On the eve of the CIIE, Illumina officially launched its first manufacturing base in China, with the first batch of locally produced NextSeq™ 550Dx clinical sequencing reagents scheduled for delivery by the end of this year, marking a solid step toward better serving the Chinese market.

Building on a further strengthened supply chain resilience and an initially scaled local presence, Illumina has adopted a forward-looking approach to invest across the entire value chain in China. By deeply empowering local innovation and technology translation, and collaborating with partners to forge a new paradigm for the genomics innovation ecosystem, Illumina supports the synergistic development of integrated innovation, industrial, and value chains, thereby injecting sustained momentum into the growth of China’s genetic testing industry.

At this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE), Illumina also maintained a booth in the “Innovation Incubation Zone” within the Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Exhibition Area, showcasing the future prospects of its locally empowered collaborative projects spanning molecular diagnostics, synthetic biology, biomaterials, biological raw materials, and artificial proteins. Since last year’s CIIE, Illumina has officially launched the Sequoia China Smart Healthcare Genomics Incubator (Illumina Technology-Driven), established jointly with Sequoia China. Through an innovative model combining an “Open Innovation Experimental Platform + Incubation Empowerment,” the incubator provides comprehensive support to portfolio companies in achieving breakthroughs and development in innovative genomic applications. This year, the second cohort of incubator projects was launched as scheduled and has completed recruitment; currently, selected enterprises are competing for the final spots.

Looking ahead, Illumina will continue to leverage its three core pillars—“innovative technology, open collaboration, and local investment”—to join hands with its industry partners in exploring and expanding R&D, manufacturing, and services tailored to local needs. By working closely with government, industry, academia, research institutions, and healthcare providers, we aim to collectively build and share the boundless possibilities for the future development of China’s biogenetics industry, harnessing the power of genomics to improve the health of people across China and around the world.

Illumina is dedicated to advancing and inspiring the development of genomics to continuously improve human health. Our focus on innovation has made us a global leader in gene sequencing and array technologies, providing professional services to customers in research, clinical, and applied markets worldwide. Our products are widely used in life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging fields. For more information, please visit www.illumina.com.cn or follow Illumina’s WeChat official account.