Reduce risk in pharmaceutical research and development
Drug discovery is one of the most challenging and expensive undertakings in science. Timelines often stretch a decade or more, costs exceed billions, and most candidates fail before approval. Nearly 90% of drugs entering clinical trials do not make it to market, often due to lack of efficacy or unforeseen safety issues. These failures waste resources, delay treatments, and increase pressure on research and development teams to deliver better outcomes faster.
Diseases operate across multiple layers of biology, resulting in a complex network of biological pathways. Traditional approaches that rely on narrow markers or single data points often miss critical signals, leading to late-stage surprises and costly setbacks.
Illumina helps researchers see the full picture. By connecting biological evidence, molecular pathways, and advanced analytics, we enable earlier insights that reduce risk and accelerate decision-making. Drugs backed by genetic evidence are over 2.5 times more likely to succeed, and in 2023, two-thirds of FDA approvals had genetic support. These insights are essential for drug discovery teams to deliver faster, safer, and more effective therapies.
We’re built to help pharmaceutical teams succeed. Our trusted portfolio and proven partnerships empower researchers to:
Identify better targets with multiomic insights
Spot early signs of failure before costly late-stage trials
Avoid missed opportunities by surfacing promising candidates sooner
With actionable data, richer biological context, and AI-driven analysis, Illumina reduces risk and unlocks the full potential of your discovery pipeline.
Illumina enables a broad range of flexible solutions, built to expedite and improve drug discovery. Learn more about a range of integrated offerings, including partnerships that translate population-scale signals into mechanistic insights, field-leading in-lab NGS solutions for multiomic sequencing, and clinical research solutions that streamline your route to patient impact.
Bring common NGS‑based drug discovery methods in‑house with push‑button simplicity. Our Illumina portfolio spans solutions for genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics with capabilities for spatial analysis at the tissue level or high-resolution analysis at the single-cell level, delivering the techniques most widely used by biopharma. Automated, built‑in analysis tools provide rapid answers while reducing bioinformatics burden.
Accelerate discovery with large‑scale, high‑quality data for pharma. Illumina provides diverse human multiomic data with longitudinal clinical records, plus Cell Atlas data mapping human biology and functional genetics at scale. Explore BioInsight data assets, custom services, and AI‑driven tools that turn multimodal data into actionable insights.
Explore genomic advances with the the world’s largest genome‑wide genetic perturbation dataset, built to reveal disease biology at transformative scale and accelerate AI‑powered therapeutic breakthroughs.
Proteomics pilot with UK Biobank
Discover how Illumina and UK Biobank are breaking new ground with a large‑scale proteomics pilot that could unlock deeper insights into disease biology. This collaboration redefines what’s possible in population-scale health discovery.
Pushing the boundaries of whole-genome sequencing
Illumina is building momentum in whole-genome sequencing, surpassing 310,000 genomes with continued growth ahead. In this press release, learn how Illumina supports deeper insights at scale with industry partners.
First‑of‑its‑kind GLP‑1 dataset
A first-ever GLP‑1 real‑world dataset is here and is built to accelerate next‑generation metabolic therapies. Explore how Illumina and Ovation.io are opening the door to new insights for diabetes, obesity, and cardiometabolic research.
Advancing personalized cancer care
Illumina is teaming up with leading biopharma innovators to push personalized cancer care forward. Learn how these new collaborations aim to speed development of targeted therapies and bring precision oncology to more patients worldwide.
Illumina showcases growing leadership in genomic AI
From predictive insights to accelerated discovery, AI is transforming genomics and Illumina is setting the pace. See how new AI‑powered advancements are helping researchers interpret data faster and unlock breakthroughs.
Mechanistic insights for faster drug discovery
See how cross‑industry partnerships are turning population‑scale multiomic data into mechanistic insights to power faster, smarter drug discovery for validated targets such as glucagon‑like peptide‑1.
Illumina offers flexible, scalable options designed for organizations at any stage of drug discovery. You can choose from:
Illumina provides a full set of clinical research tools spanning biomarker discovery, patient‑selection strategies, data solutions, and more.
Key resources include:
Drug discovery improves dramatically when multiple biological layers such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and functional data, are analyzed together. See how multiomics helps teams:
You don’t need to be an NGS expert to begin using genomic tools in drug discovery. Illumina offers guided onboarding, intuitive workflows, and extensive training resources to help teams ramp up quickly. Many of the most common pharma R&D applications such as targeted DNA/RNA sequencing, mRNA analysis, and single‑cell methods are already well‑established and available as intuitive, end‑to‑end workflows.
If you're new to sequencing, our NGS for beginners resources provide step‑by‑step guidance on choosing the right platform, preparing samples, and interpreting results. Illumina specialists and global support teams are also available to help you design your workflow, scale at your own pace, and ensure you get quality data from day one.
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