April News and Product Briefs

News Briefs

Novogene established its first genomics sequencing center in the United States, located on the Sacramento campus of the University of California, Davis. The company also announced that it has purchased its second Illumina Hi-Seq X Ten system, and that it is installing five of these sequencers in the newly established facility at UC Davis. The new center will provide to U.S. and global customers whole genome sequencing and analysis of human, plant and animal samples for biomedical and agricultural research. Novogene’s goal is to establish a CLIA-certified laboratory in the UC Davis facility to enable human genome sequencing for clinical applications as well. Press release (PDF)

The BRCA Challenge, a project of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, released the newest version of the BRCA Exchange web portal. BRCA Challenge is an international effort to advance understanding of breast, ovarian, and other cancers by pooling genomic and clinical data on the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. The BRCA Exchange, the first product of the BRCA Challenge, is a publicly accessible web portal that lets patients, clinicians, and researchers access curated expert interpretations and some supporting evidence for genetic variants identified in BRCA1 and BRCA2. The new release represents the first time that all publicly available BRCA1 and BRCA2 variant data contained in databases such as ClinVar, LOVD, ExAC, and the 1000 Genomes Project have been pooled in a single, federated resource. Press release (PDF)

Genomics plc entered into a research collaboration with DNAnexus to analyze population-scale sequencing data. The partners will develop solutions to deal with data from sequencing projects involving tens or hundreds of thousands of people, such as Genomics England’s 100,000 Genomes Project, and the Regeneron Genetics Center and Geisinger Health DiscovEHR collaboration. Both Genomics plc and DNAnexus are working with the Regeneron Genetics Center, and Genomics plc is a Platform Partner of Genomics England. Press release

WuXi AppTec acquired Crelux GmbH, a structure-based drug discovery provider based in Munich, Germany. Crelux provides a number of customized services to support hit-finding, conformational analysis and lead optimization, including protein production, biophysical assays, fragment screening, and X-ray crystallography. The acquisition will allow WuXi to expand its integrated drug discovery services within Europe. Press release

Illumina committed to invest $100 million in a new venture capital, Illumina Ventures, established by Nicholas Naclerio, Illumina's former Senior Vice President, Corporate and Venture Development. The independently managed firm will pursue investments in early stage companies that are developing new applications of nucleic acid sequencing, creating products that will expand the genomics ecosystem, and utilizing genomics to improve human health. Illumina will be the majority limited partner in the first fund. Press release

Dassault Systèmes and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) signed a joint agreement to accelerate clinical research programs by deploying a virtual collaborative platform. Inserm will use Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform to conduct its biomedical research programs in the areas of aging, cancer, genomics and microbiota. In turn, Dassault Systèmes will leverage data from Inserm’s research programs to calibrate and validate scientific models that can be applied to future technologies for the clinical research domain. Press release

Genestack partnered with the Cancer Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (CMDL), an organisation involving Cancer Research UK, the University of Cambridge, the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Medical Research Council, to bring genomic technologies into clinical practice. The collaboration will focus on using next-generation sequencing to develop a ‘sequence to report’ solution for the prognosis and post-treatment monitoring of bone marrow transplant patients. This collaboration is the first use of the Genestack platform in a clinical setting. Press release

GENEWIZ acquired multiple high-throughput sequencing platforms including an Illumina HiSeq X Ten system, PacBio Sequel, and 10x Genomics Chromium. These new platforms complement GENEWIZ’s existing HiSeq, MiSeq, and Ion Torrent platforms, providing a variety of sequencing read lengths and throughput options to accommodate different projects, costs, and timelines. Press release

Macrogen Corp. has selected N-of-One to provide clinical interpretation for its newly launched clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) panels used for cancer patients. Macrogen offers genomic testing services to North American hospitals and patients. N-of-One’s patient-specific analysis identifies therapeutic options based on each patient’s specific molecular profile identified by the sequencing data. These therapeutic options include therapies in guidelines, off label therapies, and relevant clinical trials. Press release

Good Start Genetics appointed Jeffrey Luber to the post of president and CEO. Luber has also been appointed to the Good Start Genetics Board of Directors. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Luber served as Good Start Genetics’ general counsel and head of corporate development. Previously, Luber co-founded SynapDx, developer of blood-based technologies for the early detection of autism, and held several executive positions at EXACT Sciences Corporation including president and CEO. Press release

New Products

QIAGEN introduced RNA-seq Explorer Solution, for analysis and interpretation of “omics” data from liquid biopsy-based research. RNA-seq Explorer Solution integrates Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, Biomedical Genomics Workbench, and other QIAGEN bioinformatics solutions for the discovery and validation of RNA biomarkers in liquid biopsy experiments, helping users search for the genetic drivers of cancers. Press release

Dotmatics and eMolecules formed a partnership to offer eMolecules’ collection of chemicals within the Dotmatics Platform. Users of Vortex, Browser, and Studies Notebook will now be able to access the full eMolecules collection of chemical compounds, with additional chemistry property data provided by the Dotmatics chemistry platform. The eMolecules database contains more than 7 million unique chemicals and more than 20 million products, including different packaging and suppliers. Dotmatics’ chemically intelligent search engine enables users to query, search and retrieve results across this database in seconds. Press release

Kailos Genetics formed a partnership with TapGenes, to give people tools to exchange health information acquired through genetic testing. This includes gauging the risk of breast cancer or understanding the effectiveness of certain medications among family members. The TapGenes Family Health Tree gives users a centralized platform to store and share health information—such as their genetic data results from the Kailos test—allowing them to see hereditary health trends. Users can then control who has access to their personal data. For Kailos, genetic test results will only be shared with the individual and their approved physician. Press release

DNAnexus announced a partnership with SolveBio to integrate their platforms and provide access to SolveBio’s curated data and analysis services. SolveBio gathers genomic information for the pharmaceutical and global diagnostic markets. Interpretation services using SolveBio’s knowledge base will now be integrated with genomic analysis pipelines run through DNAnexus. Press release