World Renowned Geneticist David Bentley, D.Phil. Joins Solexa As Chief Scientist

HAYWARD, Calif. and Cambridge, UK (August 22, 2005) – Solexa, Inc. (Nasdaq:  SLXA) today announced the appointment of David Bentley, D.Phil., as Chief Scientist. Dr. Bentley joins Solexa from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, where he was a founding member of the management team, holding the position of Head of Human Genetics. During his tenure at the Sanger Institute, Dr. Bentley was a driving force behind the Institute’s immense contributions to the Human Genome Project, The SNP Consortium, and most recently, the International Haplotype Mapping (HapMap) Project.  

In his role at Solexa, Dr. Bentley will spearhead the Company’s DNA sequencing applications development and projects, contributing to commercialization of our first instrument system.  This system, which the Company plans to introduce to the market by the end of this year, is designed to enable whole human genome resequencing for under $100,000 in 2006 and eventually below $10,000. One initiative that stands to benefit substantially from Solexa’s technology is the newly proposed ten-year, $1.5 billion Human Cancer Genome Project.  In addition, Dr. Bentley will also represent the Company to the scientific research community, interacting with major research centers, institutions and funders, both as collaborators and potential future customers.  Dr. Bentley, who joins Solexa effective September 5, will report to Tony Smith, Ph.D., Solexa’s Chief Scientific Officer.   

Commenting on the appointment, John West, Solexa’s CEO, said: “As one of the pre-eminent geneticists in the world, David brings with him a wealth of scientific and operational knowledge that will prove invaluable as we finalize development and prepare to commercialize our next-generation genetic analysis tools. David is extremely well known in the fields of genomics and human genetics, and his strong international reputation is a powerful endorsement for Solexa and its technology. We are very pleased to welcome David to the team.” 

Dr. Bentley has a longstanding involvement with Solexa, having served on Solexa’s Scientific Advisory Board since 1998 and as a co-inventor of aspects of the Company’s technology.  

On joining Solexa, Dr Bentley said: “I am delighted to join Solexa as Chief Scientist.  Fast, economical and accurate genome sequencing will dominate genetics in the coming years.  Solexa provides a unique environment and the tools to achieve this in successful academic and commercial partnerships.” 

Prior to joining the Sanger Institute, Dr. Bentley was Senior Lecturer in the Division of Medical & Molecular Genetics, University of London. He has a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge and has authored over 130 scientific research publications. 

About Solexa

Solexa, Inc. is developing and preparing to commercialize a new genetic analysis instrument system which will be used to perform a range of analyses including whole genome resequencing, gene expression analysis and micro-RNA analysis. We expect Solexa’s first-generation technology to generate over a billion bases of DNA sequence per run and to enable whole genome resequencing below $100,000 per sample, making it the first platform to reach this important milestone. Solexa's longer-term goal is to reduce the cost of human re-sequencing to a few thousand dollars for use in a wide range of applications from basic research through clinical diagnostics. The Company expects to introduce its first instrument system by the end of 2005.  For further information, please visit www.solexa.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, including statements related to the current views of Solexa management as to future products, product development including the commercial introduction of the Company’s novel genetic analysis technology, the expansion and success of Solexa's commercial application of its genomics technologies, the availability of adequate funding for Solexa and the future financial performance of Solexa. Any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "predicts," "expects," "envisions," "hopes," "estimates," "intends," "will," "continue," "may," "potential," "should," "confident," "could" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that such expectations of any of the forward-looking statements will prove to be correct, and actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in the forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of Solexa to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements including, among others, risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005. Solexa does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

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