Develop Latest Human All Exon Target Enrichment Tool for Next-Gen Sequencing

Agilent Technologies Collaborates with Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Gencode to Develop Latest Human All Exon Target Enrichment Tool for Next-Gen Sequencing

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and CAMBRIDGE, England, Aug. 4, 2010

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced the SureSelect Human All Exon 50 Mb Target Enrichment kit for next-generation DNA sequencing. The kit enables researchers to streamline experiments by sequencing the expressed genome while discarding regions that are not of interest.

The new kit was developed in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Gencode consortium, where scientists added 12 megabases (Mb) of new content to an existing Agilent SureSelect Human All Exon kit for a total of approximately 50 Mb. The original kit was developed with researchers at the Broad Institute at Harvard and MIT. Additional content was defined by researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute as part of their participation in Gencode. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and members of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) have been using the new SureSelect All Human Exon kit on an early-access basis for about one year. The commercial version of this kit is available today.

"This new kit is the latest tool to emerge from a long collaboration between Agilent and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute," said Fred P. Ernani, Ph.D., Agilent SureSelect Platform business manager. "We look forward to continuing this productive relationship to bring the genomics community even better tools in the future."

Additionally, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has standardized on the Agilent SureSelect Target Enrichment system for its next-generation sequencing work. Due to its status as a charitable organization, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute does not endorse commercial products.

"Our sequence-capture pipeline is central to delivering the Institute’s research into understanding gene function," said Cordelia Langford, Ph.D., head of Genome Analysis Production at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "It is essential that the pipeline delivers reproducibly high-quality and efficiently processed samples for this important work."

Agilent’s SureSelect Target Enrichment System offers the broadest range of target enrichment products and the most highly optimized protocols for a diverse set of sequencing methods and platforms. There are now 14 products in the SureSelect portfolio, with many more in development. SureSelect products are available for enrichment of target sizes ranging from smaller than 200 Kb to more than 50 Mb in a single tube. Protocols now support Illumina end sequencing, paired-end sequencing and indexing protocols in addition to fragment library format, paired-end sequencing and barcoding on the SOLiD System.

Users of Agilent’s eArray xD desktop design tool can improve the efficiency of their research by easily designing custom products to target any genome of interest, all in a single tube. Agilent also offers the eArray online design tool, enabling users to customize the original Human All Exon version of SureSelect Target Enrichment. Online customization of the SureSelect Human All Exon 50 Mb Target Enrichment kit will be available in the near future.

For more information, visit: https://www.genomics.agilent.com/CollectionSubpage.aspx?PageType=Product&SubPageType=ProductDetail&PageID=2317 . Find eArray at earray.chem.agilent.com and click on "eArray Product Page."

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world’s premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications. The company’s 19,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $4.5 billion in fiscal 2009. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com .