Invitrogen and Illumina in strategic alliance

Invitrogen Corporation, of Carlsbad, CA, and Illumina, from San Diego, CA, have agreed a strategic collaboration to leverage their respective strengths in nucleic acid synthesis and distribution to deliver oligonucleotides to the life sciences market worldwide.

The collaboration will expand Illumina's Oligator DNA synthesis technology and combine that capability with Invitrogen's extensive sales and marketing resources. Oligonucleotides (oligos) are small, synthetic pieces of DNA that are an essential component of all genetic research, and global researchers will benefit from access to oligos with industry-leading quality and value available in both tube and plate formats, as well as reliable order turnaround times.

Under the terms of the agreement, Invitrogen will invest $3.4m in Illumina's San Diego facility to enable implementation of fourth-generation Oligator technology, extend the technology into tube-based oligo products and provide for transfer of the technology into two additional Invitrogen facilities outside North America. Over the next year, the companies expect to transition all responsibility for sales, marketing and technical support to Invitrogen as Illumina builds its capability to manufacture tube-based oligos. Profit from the collaboration products will be split equally between the two companies.

'This agreement is a classic win-win for both companies,' said Nicolas Barthelemy, Invitrogen senior vice president, operations. 'It enables our companies to implement manufacturing efficiencies that can expand our current capacity to serve a larger customer base. With Illumina's best-in-class Oligator synthesis technology, we'll be in a position to offer customers a more competitive portfolio of plate-based products for large-volume genomics projects as well as specialized tube-based products that will be synthesized and LIMS-controlled under the same SPC/SQC (statistical process control/statistical quality control) standards as plates.'

'The world oligo market is highly fragmented and underserved,' Invitrogen chairman and ceo, Gregory Lucier added. 'We're confident that by joining forces, we can accelerate organic growth and enhance our collective market share. This agreement brings two leading San Diego-based life science companies together to help accelerate pharmaceutical research by improving the quality, utility and availability of this essential element in the research process.' The market is thought to be worth about $300m/year, and unit volume is likely to expand in low double digits as research continues.

'This collaboration provides the opportunity to expand the reach of Oligator technology into broader markets through Invitrogen's world-class sales and distribution pipeline,' said Jay Flatley, Illumina president and ceo. 'Oligos in tubes represent the largest market segment by far, and we believe our combined synthesis and distribution capabilities will put our companies in a strong position to capture many new customers throughout the worldwide research community. We anticipate a seamless transition for our current oligo customers and expect that they will benefit from working with Invitrogen's extensive global service network.'