Illumina

Illumina   (Biotech company)
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Formation	April 1, 1998
Headquarters	San Diego, California, USA
Interests	Wellcome Leap, Theranos
Membership	•  Stephen P. MacMillan •  Jacob Thaysen •  Frances Arnold •  Caroline Dorsa •  Robert S. Epstein •  Scott Gottlieb •  Gary S. Guthart •  Anna Richo •  Philip Schiller •  Sue Siegel •  Scott B. Ullem •  Jay Flatley •  David Cameron •  Charles Dadswell •  Francis DeSouza
US biotech company

Illumina, Inc. is an American biotech company. It provided a digital genomic code of what was said to be the "Covid virus" to both Moderna and Pfizer for their "Covid jabs" which was given to billions of people. Their sequencing was also used as a base for policy decisions in 190 countries around the world.

"It better be good data"

In a World Economic Forum 2023 session, Illumina CEO Francis deSouza described how Moderna was basing their entire vaccine on Illumina's digital blueprint:

We have more and more tools that digitize aspects of biology so at Illumina for example we make the machines that do genomic sequencing so you put in blood or saliva or plant material and we'll tell you the DNA or the RNA in that sample and there are a whole set of use cases. One was during Covid so we were called into China in late 2019 to help them diagnose those then a flu of unknown origin and so we did the first sequence of the SARS cov2 genome that was published on January 10th and around the world what happened was a couple of companies so Moderna in Cambridge and Biontech in Germany took that data and started working on their vaccine now what's interesting is that Moderna for example has never had the live virus on their site it was all a software problem for them. I remember talking to Stephane and he was saying look we're basing our entire vaccine program on that data you published it better be good data because that's that's all we're using. And you can get a sense at Moderna as well arguably one of the most one more important companies in biology right now and yet it's all a software problem for them and so that's a use case of once you digitize biology you can solve profound biological problems.

Illumina sequencing decides policy around the world

One of the sessions at the WEF/Annual Meeting/2022 was titled "Preparing for the next Pandemic". The speakers were Stephanie Mehta, Peter Sands, Bill Gates, Illumina CEO Francis deSouza, Helen E. Clark and Paul Kagame.

At the World Economic Forum 2022 session titled "Preparing for the Next Pandemic", sitting next to Bill Gates, Illumina CEO Francis deSouza told:

Right in the beginning of the pandemic we were in Wuhan. The first notification to the WHO was on December 31, 2019. Ten days later the viral genome was published. Moderna took that data, so they never had the live virus on their site, they used the genomic data coming off those machines to launch their vaccine development program. Since then, we've seen sequencing now deployed around the world. 190 countries now have the sequencing data of the virus. That's allowed us to watch how the virus is mutating, how it's spreading. And that informs whether the tools we are using, like diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines, are going to hold, and also allows us to make policy decisions around the world.

Overview

Incorporated in April 1998, Illumina "operates behind the scenes, selling hardware and services to companies and research institutions," for the analysis of genetic variation and biological function. The company provides a line of products and services that serves the gene sequencing, genotyping and gene expression, and proteomics markets. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California.

Illumina's technology had purportedly by 2014 reduced the cost of DNA sequencing a human genome to USD 1000, down from a price of $1 million in 2007. Customers include genomic research centres, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, clinical research organisations, and biotechnology companies.

By 2016, Illumina had a captured 90 percent of the market for all DNA sequencing. Among their customers is the company 23andMe, which peddles a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service. It's CEO, Anne Wojcicki, the sister of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and the wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin, described it as

It’s crazy. Illumina is like the ruler of this whole universe and no one knows that.

As a business practice, Illumina, aggressively tries to shut out smaller competitors through lawsuits.

In 2016, Illumina launched an "aggressive" five-year plan to "bring genomics out of research labs and into doctors' offices." As Unlimited Hangout points out, given state of things since Covid in 2020, particularly the global push toward gene-focused vaccines and therapies, that plan, could not have been any better timed.

In May 2022, a US jury ordered Illumina to pay more than $333 million to a U.S. unit of Chinese genomics company BGI Group after finding that Illumina's DNA-sequencing systems willfully infringed two patents. BGI and Illumina are both major providers of genome-analysis technology that the say can be used to detect genetic diseases.

In 2016, Illumina and Bill Gates pooled a $100M to fund the startup, 'Grail', which was said to be researching a universal cancer detection test for doctors. Other investors included Jeff Bezos. In September 2020, Illumina announced a proposed cash and stock deal to acquire Grail for $8 billion. Illumina has history of integrated product relationships with Microsoft and Amazon in cloud-based storage and big data solutions.

Covid participation

By 2014, it claimed its "next-generation sequencing (NGS) provides an effective, unbiased way to identify new coronavirus strains and other pathogens without prior knowledge of organisms..

UK backdoor influence

On 13 January 2020, Genomics England and Illumina announced an agreement to deliver up to 300,000 whole genome equivalents over the next five years, with an option to increase to 500,000. Samples will be provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and the network of seven genomic laboratory hubs across England, which were established in 2018. This supports NHS England’s ambition to lead the world in introducing whole genome sequencing into routine healthcare, as described by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who said it would enable the UK to maintain its position as a global leader in genomics. The agreement builds on the delivery of the 100,000 Genomes Project which established consent from patients with rare genetic diseases and cancer, tissue sample requirements, standardised DNA sequencing, data analysis and reporting.

In May 2020, a new partnership to sequence human genomes in the fight against COVID-19 was announced: Genomics England, is partnering with the GenOMICC consortium, Illumina and the NHS to launch the research drive, which will reach patients in 170 intensive care units (ICUs) throughout the UK. The project is backed by £28 million from Genomics England, UK Research and Innovation, the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Institute for Health Research.

David Cameron,Former UK Prime Minster until 2016, denied commercially lobbying the government on behalf Illumnia, a company he worked for. Cameron wrote to Health Secretary Matt Hancock personally to recommend him to attend a conference co-hosted by Illumina, at which Hancock spoke, shortly before it won a £123m government contract relating to genome sequencing by Public Health England. The Times reported that a week after the conference in September 2019, the company was given a multi-million-pound contract for genetic sequencing without competition.

As prime minister, Cameron set up Genomics England, which is wholly owned by the department of health. A £78m deal between Genomics England and Illumina was announced in 2014.

Cameron discussed "UK genomics sequencing" with Nadhim Zahawi, the minister responsible for Covid jabs, on 1 March 2021. Official disclosures also make it clear that Illumina was being represented at the meeting.

Paula Dowdy, Illumina's General Manager of Commercial Operations for Europe, said:

We have a long-standing partnership with Genomics England and are proud to support this new genomics initiative from our Cambridge-based lab. The results will establish a unique platform for researchers to understand the human response to coronavirus infection, leading towards new treatments and ways to control infection spread.”

People

Board As of November 2024.

Illumina’s former CEO, Francis DeSouza, previously held key posts at Microsoft and Symantec.

Robert Nelsen was an early investor in Illumina.

Jay Flatley was is the long-time head of Illumina. Though he stepped down from the board of Illumina in 2016, he has continued to serve as the executive chairman of its board of director. As of 2021, he is chairman of the board of directors of Wellcome Leap, at seed fund started by the Wellcome Trust, with $300 million in funding "to battle against the most pressing global health challenges of our time". Other people involved include former U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Director Regina Dugan as its lead. Leap will undertake "bold, unconventional programs and fund them at scale". The new organization will be independent from Wellcome Trust and governed autonomously to "encourage speed, agility, and an appetite for risk-taking."

In addition to his long-standing leadership role at Illumina, Jay Flatley is also a "digital member" of the World Economic Forum as well as the lead independent director of Zymergen, a WEF “tech pioneer” company that is “rethinking biology and reimagining the world.”

Aside from Flatley as an individual, Illumina as a company is a WEF partner and plays a key role in its platform regarding the future of health care. A top Illumina executive also serves on the WEF’s Global Future Council on Biotechnology.

 

Known members

2 of the 15 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
David Cameron	UK deep state operative, former UK PM
Scott Gottlieb	Food and Drug Administration leader, then over to Pfizer.

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References

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