1 October 2003, Little Chesterford, UK…Solexa, the UK-based company developing systems that will allow rapid sequencing of individual genomes, has announced the appointment of Dr Simon Bennett as Business Development Director.

 

Dr Bennett was previously Director of Business Development at Oxagen where he established and led genetics programmes in the areas of osteoporosis, endometriosis and women’s health.

 

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Bennett said, “Solexa is at an exciting stage of its development. Its single molecule array technology offers enormous potential in the emerging field of whole genome resequencing. I am looking forward to the challenge of helping to create the market for this truly enabling technology.”

 

At Oxagen Dr Bennett led a number of collaborations with the industry and academia and well as contributing to the developing ethics in the area of genetics in medicine. Prior to Oxagen he was a research fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, where he worked with Professor John Todd to help pioneer approaches to dissect complex diseases using genetics.  Before that he was a research fellow at the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where he helped to establish a molecular genetics laboratory. He has recently served on the committee of the Genetics Society of the UK and is the author of over 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers in genetics.

 

Nick McCooke, Solexa’s CEO, welcomed Dr Bennett to the Company, “Simon’s appointment to the position of Business Development Director reflects the progress Solexa is making towards commercialisation of its technology and will be pivotal in ensuring we are in shape to attract partners and collaborators, and build on our existing relationships such as with the Sanger Institute. Our platform will radically improve the quality and quantity of information about individual genetic variation available for applications  ranging from target discovery through to clinical implementation.”

 

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Notes to editors

 

1.                   Solexa       www.solexa.co.uk

 

Solexa has developed a system with a capability of massively parallel sequencing of short fragments of genomic DNA. The Company will have completed a system prototype by the end of 2003. Solexa’s technology will overcome the cost and throughput bottlenecks in the production and application of individual genetic variation data that are holding back many of the benefits to medicine that can flow from the genome revolution. Its system will offer a potential five order of magnitude efficiency improvement, well beyond the range possible from existing technologies, thus paving the way to the “$1000 genome”.

 

The Company’s technical approach combines patented advances in synthetic chemistry, surface chemistry, molecular biology, enzymology, array technology and optics. Its Single Molecule Arrays™ have the equivalent of hundreds of millions of sequencing lanes and deliver base-by-base sequencing on a chip without the need for amplification of the DNA sample. An animation of this technology is available on the Company’s website.

 

In the shorter term, the Solexa genome sequencing system will improve and accelerate new methods of applying knowledge of individual variation to disease association, pharmacogenomics, cancer diagnosis and drug development. Ultimately the system will enable personalised medicine through the development of gene diagnostics and tailored drugs.

 

Founded in 1998 and led by Nick McCooke, CEO, and a high quality board and management team, Solexa’s talented and multidisciplinary scientists are focused on accelerating prototype development from its customized 14,000 sq ft facilities to the south of Cambridge, UK. Solexa has raised over £15 million (€22 million; $23 million) in venture capital investment that has enabled rapid progress in the development of its technologies. Investors include Abingworth Management, Schroder Ventures Life Sciences, Oxford Bioscience Partners and Amadeus Capital Partners.

 

2.                   Media pack and photographs

 

Electronic photographs of Solexa's technology and a full media pack with diagrams is available on request from Northbank Communications – please contact Caroline Stupnicka on +44 (0)20 7886 8154, c.stupnicka@northbankcommunications.com.