From DNA to Proteins: Illumina Makes Its Proteomics Play - with Krishna Morampudi

Illumina has just made a bold move into proteomics.

In this episode of Mendelspod, Krishna Morampudi, Associate Director for Product Management at Illumina, joins Theral to talk about the company’s recent definitive agreement to acquire SomaLogic and the new launch of Illumina Protein Prep, their new end-to-end proteomics solution.

0:00 On the acquisition of SomaLogic

4:30 Scoop: Illuminated Protein Prep just launched

8:00 Competitive edge

14:15 The larger multi-omics vision

Illumina’s new product can screen for 9,500 proteins using SomaLogic’s SOMAmer technology, with sequencing on NovaSeq and data processed through Illumina’s existing connected analysis platforms. According to Morampudi, the integration with Illumina’s NGS workflows gives researchers a competitive edge and lowers the barrier to proteomics adoption.

The product has already launched with early access customers, including large biobank studies such as UK Biobank through partnerships with Decode Genetics. Krishna notes that “the motivation to buy the company was really coming from working with those early access customers.”

With a vision to make large-scale quantitative proteomics standard in discovery research, Illumina is betting that SomaLogic’s scalable, high-throughput tech can eventually outpace long-established competitors.

“We’re starting with 9,500 proteins with lower CVs than Olink. Our ability to scale faster to the entire native proteome gives us a real advantage,” Morampudi says.

In the final segment, Morampudi connects the proteomics launch with Illumina’s broader multi-omics vision and outlines the potential for new biomarker discovery, PQTL analysis, and phenotypic insights.