Genomics giant Illumina has purchased Edico Genome for $100 million, adding a processing platform to Illumina’s portfolio.
Edico Genome specializes in making sense of the data generated by genome sequencing. Its platform, Dragen, quickens genomics analysis — and makes file sizes smaller. That’s as opposed to rooms of huge servers to crunch genetic data.
Dragen’s analysis and interpretation looks to complement Illumina, which rose to prominence with genome sequencing machines that shed light on a person’s susceptibility to disease and what treatment options may be best. The two companies are based in San Diego.
“Our acquisition of Edico Genome is a big step toward realizing the vision of reducing sequencing data acquisition and analysis to a push-button, standardized process,” Susan Tousi, senior vice president of product development at Illumina, said in a news release.
Edico Genome, which got its start in the local incubator EvoNexus, is privately held and had about 50 employees as of earlier this year.
“As the scale of sequencing expands, decreasing the cost and time of analysis will be important to fuel the clinical adoption of sequencing,” Pieter van Rooyen, CEO of Edico Genome, said in a news release. “Our team is invigorated at the prospect of joining Illumina to combine our respective strengths to streamline and accelerate secondary analysis for the genomics community.”
The companies were part of a team earlier this year that earned a spot in the Guinness World Records for fastest genetic diagnosis.
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The team compressed the time needed to decode rare genetic disorders in newborns through DNA sequencing to less than a day, setting the stage for quicker diagnosis. Playing a role in the feat were Edico, Illumina, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine, Alexion, Clinithink, Fabric Genomics and Diploid.
