Company Announcements

The Neuromuscular Disease Foundation announced in December 2017 a collaboration with PerkinElmer for whole-genome sequencing paired with metabolomics analysis of 100 samples. The partners will create a database to facilitate patient recruitment for clinical trials.

In December 2017, MediSapiens announced it has joined the €59 million ($65 million) FinnGen project, which will genetically profile 500,000 Finns. The company will provide data curation, data management, data exploration and discovery software solutions.

In January, DNAnexus, a bioinformatics and data management company, closed a $58 million financing round. Investors included Microsoft, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and WuXi NextCODE.

ReadCoor received a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and DAF, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, to spatially map cortical cells for the Human Cell Atlas using its Fluorescence in Situ Sequencing (FISSEQ) technology. FISSEQ is a pan-omic spatial sequencing platform. The project is part of an Allen Institute-led consortium.

BGI and Miracle Light Incubator launched in January the BGI Accelerator program, which will provide seed funding, mentoring service, lab hours, equipment and other resources to five life science startups.

BGI announced in January that it has sequenced over 10,000 human samples using its BGISEQ-500 system since the launch of its $600 whole-genome sequencing pricing in 2016. The company also launched the BGI Genomics’ 2020 Program, in collaboration with Intel and Alibaba Cloud, to perform human whole-genome sequencing within 24 hours at a price of less than $300. In addition, BGI announced the BGI Genomics’ Life Periodic Plan to digitalize all animals and plants on earth.

HTG Molecular Diagnostics announced in January preliminary 2017 revenues, which showed an increase of 169%–175% to $13.8–$14.1 million. Collaborations drove revenue growth. The initial revenue guidance for 2018 is $20.0–$25.0 million.

In January, Illumina and China’s KingMed Diagnostics agreed to jointly develop novel oncology and hereditary disease testing applications. The companies will codevelop an integrated NGS system for IVD assays for molecular oncology and hereditary cancer testing based on Illumina’s MiniSeq System and related sequencing consumables integrated with KingMed Diagnostics’ proprietary testing components, which include library preparation kits.

Stratos Genomics, a fourth generation, low-cost sequencing technology developer, announced in January that it has raised $20 million in venture capital from Fisk Ventures.

10x Genomics announced in January that the BGISEQ-500RS sequencer from MGI, a BGI company, has met the standards of its 10x Genomics Compatible Program.

In January, Curetis, a molecular diagnostics solutions provider, signed a supply and authorization agreement, as well as a further R&D collaboration and service agreement, with MGI for NGS-based infectious disease testing. The parties will integrate Curetis’ Unyvero Lysator-based sample preparation technology.

In January, Luna DNA named Dawn Berry as president. Previously, she served as vice president of Applied Genomics at Illumina.

Vela Diagnostics announced in January that it has licensed two technologies for enriching rate sequences in nucleic acid libraries from the University of California, San Francisco: FLASH (Finding Low Abundance Sequences by Hybridization) and DASH (Depletion of Abundant Sequences of Hybridization). The agreement covers the US and other countries. Vela Diagnostics plans to use the methods to develop products for oncology and infectious disease testing, including cell free DNA/RNA and microbiology/microbiome testing approaches.

Data solutions firm MediSapiens announced in January that it has joined the nonprofit Pistoia Alliance.

Oxford Nanopore announced the certification of two labs of China-based NextOmics (GrandOmics) to provide its sequencing technology as a service.

In January, Diagenode and Genialis announced a streamlined RNA-seq data analysis workflow to assess gene expression in low input or degraded RNA samples. It combines Diagenode’s “Capture and Amplification by Tailing and Switching” RNA-seq library preparation products with a validated, automated bioinformatics developed by Genialis.

Product Introductions

In January, Thermo Fisher Scientific introduced two new Oncomine NGS assays. The Ion Torrent Oncomine Pan-Cancer Cell-Free Assay enables reproducible detection and analysis of tumor DNA and RNA across all major classes of somatic mutations from a single vial of blood with as little as 1 ng of nucleic acid input within 2 days. It targets over 50 genes. The Ion Torrent Oncomine Tumor Mutation Load Assay is designed to improve potential selection strategies for immune therapy clinical trials, and features 409 genes that can be sequenced using as little as 20 ng of FFPE. The company also released the next generation Ion AmpliSeq HD technology, which now adds highly customization design capabilities to solid tumor and cell-free DNA panels.

QIAGEN announced in January the coming launch of several NGS products. These include an upgraded GeneReader NGS chemistry enabling increased output, the new GeneRead QIAact Myeloid panel, additional GeneReader QIAact Custom Panels, and upgraded versions of the GeneRead QIAact BRCA 1/2 panel and the GeneReader QIAact Actionable Insights Tumor Panel FPPE panel.

In January, service firm Dovetail Genomics launched the Dovetail Hi-C Kit, its first commercial kit, with cloud-based HiRise software for genome assembly.

10x Genomics introduced in January Supernova 2.0, its de novo assembly solution software, for plant and animal research. It features optimized sample preparation protocols and software algorithms for cost effective assembly.

SOPHiA GENETICS announced in January that its AIR platform now includes radiomics capabilities.

Sales and Orders of Note

In January, SolveBio received a $1.5 million grant from the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “The Variant Explorer: a Cloud-based Data Integration and Visualization System for Improving Clinical Interpretation of Sequenced Genetic Variants.”

Edico Genome partnered with Genomics England in January to use its DRAGEN platform for Genomics England’s Rare Disease Pilot. Genomics England is currently using the product to reprocess five thousand whole human genomes from individuals with rare diseases.

In January, BC Platforms announced that Amgen Finland will use its platform to study data in cardiovascular and bone diseases, hematological malignancies and other regions of oncology.

In January, NRGene announced a long-term license agreement for its GenoMAGIC big data analytics platform with Syngenta following a collaboration agreement.

Arima Genomics’ Arima-HiC sample preparation platform was selected in January by the Genome 10K consortium to generate chromosomal-level phase genomes for all vertebrate order species as part of phase 1 of the project. The collaboration will be a service offering.

In January, the City of Hope procured Takara Bio USA’s SMARTer ICELL8 Single-Cell System for high-throughput single-cell RNA-seq applications.

Pacific Biosciences announced in January that BGI Genomics has purchased 10 additional Sequel Systems. BGI Genomics currently operates 2 Sequel Systems and 1 PacBio RS II Sequencing System.