San Diego companies behind several major advances in the fight against COVID-19 Illumina/KGTV Illumina was one of the San Diego companies that helped advance breakthroughs in the pandemic's first year. and last updated 2021-03-10 23:07:32-05 SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- From treatments to testing, scientists in San Diego have been behind several major advances in the fight against COVID-19. Perhaps no product is touching more lives than the vaccines, and in some ways, the historic pace of vaccine development got a head start with the help of San Diego-based Illumina. âSuffice it to say, we wouldn't be shipping out vaccines to millions of individuals on a daily basis if it wasn't for our technology from the very beginning,â said Dr. Phil Febbo, the companyâs chief medical officer.