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News Coinciding with Bio-IT World 2018 

Following is a review of the different announcements that coincided with the conference spanning commercial product launches, new partnerships and collaborations, product integrations, and other interesting and relevant topics.

Read the full Bio-IT World 2018 enlightenbio blog.

Strategic partnerships and collaborations

Google Cloud for Life Sciences adds new products and partners: Google is actively working in the life science sector as demonstrated with a new product launch and the announcements of new partnerships of which the complete list now includes: BC Platforms, the Broad Institute’s FireCloud, Dell EMC, DNAstack, Elastifile, Komprise, OnRamp.Bio, Petagene, Seven Bridges Genomics, and WuXi NextCODE.

PierianDx partners with ScienceVision to bring precision medicine support to Southeast Asia Under the partnership, ScienceVision will commercialize and distribute the PierianDx Clinical Genomics Workspace™ (CGW) platform for clinical genomic informatics, classification, interpretation, and clinical reporting.

Product launches

Google Cloud showcased their recent progress with an example being Variant Transforms, which helps organizations structure genomic variant data in BigQuery.

Bluebee introduces BLUEBASE which runs on the Bluebee core data analysis platform and provides post-sequencing intelligent data aggregation, data querying, and deep knowledge mining. BLUEBASE is designed for use by diagnostic assay developers, pharmaceutical researchers, clinical trial operators, and investigators of population-scale initiatives.

Linguamatics debuts iScite, which supports artificial intelligence-based scientific searches and guides their users via an Answer Routing Engine that delivers insightful answers to their search questions across biomedical data sources.

L7 Informatics Announces the Availability of Microsoft Genomics on the L7 Enterprise Science Platform The expanded offering enhances ESP’s configurability and content portfolio. Furthermore, L7 has validated the performance of ESP on Microsoft Azure, enabling its users to confidently utilize Azure for their scientific process and data management needs.

BioBam Launches a New Version of Blast2GO for the analysis of novel genomes. With the launch of Blast2GO Version 5 it is now an all-in-one solution for functional genomics analysis of newly sequenced organisms. With this latest version, users will benefit from several new visualization and workflow features allowing them to perform high-throughput as well as exploratory analysis in just one place.

Dotmatics announced Bioregister 3.0, a registration system which offers new capabilities that enhance intellectual property protection and supports emerging methodologies in biologic drug discovery.

Acquisitions

Illumina to acquire Edico Genome for $100M Edico’s platform will be accessible through Illumina sequencers or on the cloud. Illumina will work with cloud storage providers such as Amazon to make Edico’s pipelines available on Illumina’s BaseSpace analysis platform.

Agilent Completes Genohm Buyout, Strengthens Portfolio The acquisition will allow Agilent to widen its growth prospects, and further expand its software portfolio by adding LIMS and workflow management. This strategic acquisition complements Agilent’s own sales efforts and will help it to offer better services to its customers. Learn more about Genohm in the enlightenbio company spotlight Genohm Aims to Hit the Sweet Spot With a Customizable SLIMS + ELN Solution for Lab Information Management.

Other News of Interest

Lab7 Systems Appoints New CEO and Changes Name to L7 Informatics which reflects the expansion of L7 Informatics’ product offering on its mission of providing synchronized solutions for science and health, and to pioneer scientific process and data management (SPDM) in order to accelerate discoveries and drive higher quality of healthcare. Along with this name change the company also  announced its new website at l7informatics.com.

Broad Institute is seeking every drug ever developed to build the Drug Repurposing Hub to find new potential uses.

Broad Institute Spin Out Aims To Bring Precision Medicine To Autoimmune Disease Celsius Therapeutics, is launching with $65 million from funders including Third Rock Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Heritage Provider Network, Casdin Capital, and Alexandria Venture Investments. It aims to use Regev and Kuchroo’s techniques for constructing detailed profiles of individual cells to develop drugs for autoimmune diseases and cancer immunotherapies.

News for the month of April 2018

In April, the GIANT Consortium announced that it is adding an additonal 1 million research participants to its study on the genetics and biology of height and obesity with data from 23andMe and the UK Biobank. This study could bring substantial insights into health predictions and screening.

Another exciting announcement is that 13 European countries have committed to work together and ensure secure and authorized cross-border access to genomic and other health data. The UK, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Malta, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Greece and Italy, have pledged to share one million genomes for research purposes by 2022.

Genomic/Genetic Testing

High hopes for understanding height and obesity
New collaboration with the Broad Institute, adding an additional 1 million research participants to the GIANT Consortium’s study on the genetics of height and obesity.

Helix takes clinical genetic testing straight to the consumer
Starting this summer PerkinElmer will start selling its 59 gene test – with a role in one of 34 conditions that are treatable if caught early – through the consumer genomics marketplace Helix.

GRAIL announces data from prototype blood tests for early cancer detection​
Initial Results from the Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas (CCGA) study support feasibility of a highly specific blood test for early cancer detection.

Consumers don’t need experts to interpret 23andMe genetic risk reports

Study Finds Inaccuracies in 40 Percent of DTC Genetic Testing Results

Fantasy No Longer: Blood Biopsies Detect Tumor DNA, Could Catch Cancer Earlier

Decoding your baby’s DNA: It can be done. But should it be?

NGS/Genomics

Genomenon, Veritas Partner on literature engine for variant interpretation
The companies have committed to creating an engine they said will further scale the global adoption of whole genome sequencing by reducing the time and cost of variant interpretation.

Genomenon, Rhythm Pharma partner on database of obesity mutations
The goal of the partnership is to create a database of genetic mutations associated with obesity as documented in published studies.

Podcast with Fiona Nielsen, CEO of Repositive
Discussing the data access bottleneck and her motivation to unlock it to benefit the entire community.

Genomenon Adds ACMG Classification Features to the Mastermind Genomic Search Engine

Blockchain

Blockchain technology used to record 50 million DNA data in India – Blockchain News
The Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP), India’s eighth-largest state, announced that it has signed a partnership with Shivom, a Germany-based private firm that deals in genomics and precision medicine to design a blockchain database for collecting and storing data of its 50 million citizens.

Blockchain and early cancer detection​
ARNA Genomics (Russian company) plans to release ARNA tokens via ARNA Panacea, to be used for payments within the system by all platform members, allowing patients to pay tokens for tests of early cancer detection.

Blockchain templates unveiled by Amazon Web Services​
Amazon targets the healthcare and finance industries with the new tools for developing blockchain-based apps, networks and projects.

Blockchain project will reward donors for their genomic data

Companion Dx

Bristol Partners With Illumina on diagnostic test to use with Opdivo
Drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb is partnering with Illumina to develop diagnostic tests that will pair with Bristol’s cancer drugs.

Roche expands indication for cobas® EGFR Mutation Test v2 as a companion diagnostic with TAGRISSO®

Precision Medicine

TCGA completes comprehensive genomic analysis of 33 cancer types
After a decade of analyzing over 11,000 tumors from 33 types of cancer, the collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute has launched the Pan-Cancer Atlas, providing a comprehensive understanding of 3 focus areas: cell-of-origin patterns, oncogenic processes, and signaling pathways.

Henry Ford Health to build new cancer center with $20 million anonymous gift
The Henry Ford Pancreatic Cancer Center will focus on various initiatives that hope to yield earlier detection for a disease that is often identified.

New Tools Push the Boundaries of Precision Medicine
As genomic data begins to inform more aspects of patient care, new products, AI and the cloud offer to simplify the storage and use of DNA information.

Why The Future Of Precision Medicine Runs Through The IVF Lab
What does precision medicine mean for biotechnology? It means a future where every inherited genetic disease is curable.

Changing the game: Machine learning in healthcare
A game changer for EHR.

Why the Healthcare Cloud Holds the Key to Future Innovation

Cloud Computing

Chinese Academy of Sciences launches cloud platform for researchers
Applications on the cloud platform are divided into five categories: data resources, cloud computing with AI and supercomputers, research software support, research community networks and outreach to foreign scientists and platforms. It draws data from the academy’s research institutes and major scientific installations, as well as many of China’s top universities and private innovation centers.

Miscellaneous

Data in their DNA: Repositive.io builds common ground for genomic research
Fiona Nielsen, Repositive’s Founder and CEO, has a vision of the future where researchers can browse millions of datasets, all in a centralized place, to find the data they need to keep their studies moving forward.

Transitioning from big data to discovery: data management as a keystone analytics strategy
By Ari Berman, BioTeam, Inc.

UCSF names first-ever Chief Genomics Officer
UC San Francisco has appointed Aleksandar Rajkovic, MD, PhD, as the first Chief Genomics Officer (CGO) of UCSF Health Precision Medicine Leader to oversee clinical genomics across UCSF Health.

Lawsuit alleges Michigan illegally obtains newborns’ blood
A group of Michigan parents have filed a lawsuit alleging that the state didn’t obtain proper consent to draw or store their newborns’ blood for medical research.

Earth Biogenome project aims to sequence genomes of 1.5M species
This will take 10 years, costs $4.7 billion and will require more than 200 petabytes of digital storage capacity.

Accenture releases 2018 consumer survey on digital health
According to the research, healthcare consumers continue to show strong use of digital technology for self-service care. In 2018, 75% of US consumers surveyed said technology is important to managing their health. Patients are increasingly open to intelligent technologies taking on elements of their care, such as medical consultations and monitoring.

13 countries sharing 1 million genomes for research
Sir John Bell: “This programme should provide a new global standard for human genome sequencing and will greatly improve our ability to define and treat disease.” France and Germany have not signed up to the agreement so far.

Institutional support for data sharing
As the profound benefits of research data sharing have been recognised by institutions, funders, and individual researchers, we have seen a number of high-profile funding agencies implementing open data policies to complement their existing open access mandates. Adopters of such policies include the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, the Wellcome Trust, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Happy 15th Birthday, Human Genome Project

Genetics Research Is Failing Most of the World’s Population

Elaine Mardis Chosen as 2018-2019 AACR President-Elect

Personalized Medicine accepted for coverage by MEDLINE

How the DNA Revolution Is Changing Us

Infinitesimal Odds: A Scientist Finds Her Child’s Rare Illness Stems From the Gene She Studies

Microbiome

More than half your body is not human
Human cells make up only 43% of the body’s total cell count. The rest are microscopic colonists. Understanding this hidden half of ourselves – our microbiome – is rapidly transforming understanding of diseases from allergy to Parkinson’s.

Microbes in the Gut Influence Neurodegeneration

Publications

A global transcriptional network connecting non-coding mutations to changes in tumor gene expression
Researchers have identified nearly 200 mutations in non-coding DNA that play a functional role in cancer.

Found: a new form of DNA in our cells
Scientists have tracked down an elusive ‘tangled knot’ of DNA.

Tensions in ethics and policy created by National Precision Medicine Programs

Comparative molecular analysis of gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas
New TCGA papers shed light on cancer development.

Ultra-long read, single-molecule nanopore sequencers are beginning to find an expanding set of research applications

β-Amyloid accumulation in the human brain after one night of sleep deprivation

The clinical impact of using complex molecular profiling strategies in routine oncology practice

False positive plasma genotyping due to clonal hematopoiesis

Current understanding of the human microbiome

Natural barcodes enable better cell tracking

New method uses patients’ unique genetic variation profiles to aid in personalized medicine
NIH study revises molecular classification for most common type of lymphoma

Funding

RTI invested an undisclosed amount of money and will provide what it calls “strategic support” to PierianDx

Jeff Bezos-backed cancer startup is said to seek to raise US$1 billion

Kineta Chronic Pain Inks License Deal with Genentech for Over $359 Million
Seattle-based Kineta Chronic Pain, a subsidiary of Kineta, signed an exclusive option and license deal with Genentech, a Roche company. The two companies will develop Kineta’s alpha9/alpha10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonists to treat chronic pain.

LG Health, Aspire launch $300 million precision medicine fund

Healthcare-focused fintech startup AffordPlan raises $10 M in Series B funding

NuProbe Announces $11 Million Series A Funding Round

Mergers and Acquisitions

Novartis to expand gene therapy pipeline with acquisition of AveXis for $8.7 billion

Roche completes $1.9 billion acquisition of digital healthcare technology company Flatiron Health

News Coinciding with ACMG April 2018 

Following is a review of the different announcements that coincided with the conference spanning commercial product launches, new partnerships and collaborations, product integrations, and other interesting and relevant topics.

Read the full ACMG 2018 enlightenbio blog.

Genetic testing / precision medicine

Geisinger execs: DNA sequencing program saving patient lives – Over time, as we sequence the exomes of our patients & learn even more about particular genome variants and their impact on health conditions, we predict that ~10-15% will benefit. With more than 90,000 people participating in Geisinger’s MyCode initiative, 3% have genetic variants that can be used to forecast health problems, and the number is expected to rise.

Invitae research highlights utility of proactive genetic screening, importance of assessing secondary findings in genetic testing Healthy individuals are increasingly seeking genetic testing to identify their personal risks for inherited conditions that may affect disease emergence and outcome in areas such as such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. An analysis of 1,300 patients tested with a diagnostic-grade genetic screening panel designed for healthy adults found clinically actionable results in 16 percent of patients.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America and Foundation Medicine Launch Joint Educational Campaign to Raise Consumer Awareness of Precision Medicine Approaches in Cancer Care The collaboration brings together CTCA, a nationwide cancer care network committed to delivering precision treatment, and Foundation Medicine, a leader in molecular testing that offers a suite of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) assays that may help identify alterations in an individual’s cancer and matches them with potentially relevant targeted therapies, including immunotherapies.

Strategic partnerships and collaborations

Loxo Oncology and Illumina to partner on developing next-generation sequencing-based pan-cancer companion diagnostics Loxo Oncology will utilize a companion diagnostic version of TruSight Tumor 170 for Larotrectinib (NTRK) and LOXO-292 (RET).

Charles River Laboratories and PathoQuest expand strategic biologics partnership The expansion of their strategic partnership agreement will provide next-generation sequencing (NGS) services to the biologics industry. As part of the expanded partnership, Charles River intends to make a direct investment in PathoQuest.

Product launches

Launch of AMELIE (Automated Mendelian Literature Evaluation) – The Stanford Bejerano lab launched a new literature mining tool with intends to simplify monogenic disease diagnoses with exome sequencing. Gill Bejerano presented the findings from an analysis of more than 200 singleton Mendelian disease cases.

Jude Cloud launches for researchers worldwide St. Jude, in collaboration with Microsoft and DNAnexus, will offer NGS data and analysis tools to accelerate research and cures for life-threatening pediatric diseases.

Fluidigm releases CFTR next-generation sequencing library prep assay for use with the Juno System The new assay, the Advanta™ CFTR NGS Library Prep Assay, is a highly efficient and scalable next-generation sequencing (NGS) library prep workflow for sequencing of the CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) gene.

Genoox collaborates with Bionano Genomics to enhance the detection of disease-causing structural variants in DNA The two companies intend to develop a genome informatics workflow to integrate and annotate Bionano structural variant calls with sequencing data within the Genoox platform.

PerkinElmer collaborates with Helix to drive innovation in exome-based personal genomics The initial targeted product offering will return results for 59 genes that the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) identifies as highly penetrant genetic conditions with established interventions aimed at significantly reducing morbidity and mortality. All DNA sequencing data for these products will be generated utilizing Helix’s proprietary Exome+ assay in its CLIA- and CAP-certified next-generation sequencing laboratory.

Veracyte announces precision medicine collaboration with Loxo Oncology The agreement leverages Veracyte’s new Afirma Xpression Atlas Platform to advance development of highly selective medicines for patients with genetically defined cancers, including thyroid cancer.

Other

TCGA Completes Comprehensive Genomic Analysis of 33 Cancer Types After a decade of analyzing over 11,000 tumors from 33 types of cancer, the collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute has launched the Pan-Cancer Atlas, providing a comprehensive understanding of three focus areas: cell-of-origin patterns, oncogenic processes, and signaling pathways.

FDA finalizes guidances to accelerate the development of reliable, beneficial next generation sequencing-based tests The new policies issued are meant to  provide a modern and flexible framework to generate data needed to support the FDA’s review of NGS-based tests, and give developers new tools to support the efficient development and validation of these technologies.

Researchers Turn to Facebook to Survey Rare Disease Patients for Study Nara Sobreira (Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), described how she used the social media platform to contact patients with two rare diseases she has been studying — Ollier disease and Maffucci syndrome — to survey them for a study that also involved data from a review of the clinical literature.

Paul R. Billings joins Natera as Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice-President of Medical Affairs to help lead its efforts across reproductive health, oncology, and new emerging businesses.

Chris Callahan joins PierianDx as Chief Commercial Officer to drive expansion of its genomics technology platform for clinical labs. Callahan previously was at Sunquest Information Systems where he held the role of VP and General Manager for GeneInsight.

News for the month of March 2018

In March, the FDA authorization of 23andMe’s new reporting of 3 of the more than 1,000 BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations took center stage. Though this authorization classifies 23andMe’s report as a medical device and requires the company to address and reduce risks to customers, it is argued that this test will only be helpful to a small subset of people, a pitfall of consumer breast cancer testing.

Other worthy news is the newly established partnership between Google and WuXi NextCODE. Google will begin hosting WuXi NextCODE’s core suite of capabilities on the Google Cloud with the aim of enhancing its comprehensive genomics capabilities.

Genomics/Genetic Testing

FDA authorizes, with special controls, direct-to-consumer test that reports three mutations in the BRCA breast cancer genes
The test only reports 3 out of more than 1,000 known BRCA mutations and a negative result doesn’t rule out increased cancer risk. The FDA granted the marketing authorization to 23andMe.

Opinion: No, FDA Didn’t Really Approve 23andMe’s BRCA Test
Rather, the breast cancer mutation screen was classified as a type of medical device with obligations for the company to reduce risks to customers.

How Did 23andMe Stumble in Its Early Days?
Linda Avey, co-founder of 23andMe, discusses the early days.

Blueprint Genetics is setting a new standard for quality with the introduction of new and improved panels
A total of 157 panels have been updated and 21 new panels launched.

Intermountain Healthcare to build global DNA registry with 23andMe, AncestryDNA data 
The project, dubbed the GeneRosity Registry and funded by the Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation, will compile data from adults who have already purchased direct-to-consumer genetic tests from commercial sites like AncestryDNA, MyHeritage or 23andMe. These participants will have the option to voluntarily upload raw and unprocessed genetic test results to the project’s website.

The government wants to free your health data. Will that unleash innovation?
CMS is seeking to open the data floodgates. The agency wants to put patients in charge of their information instead of the hospitals and insurers that collect it and keep it locked within their own systems. And it wants to do so explicitly to help app and device makers gain access to high-quality data.

Some breast cancer patients are missing out on genetic counseling
Nearly half of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who should be recommended for genetic testing did not get it. A quarter of these patients were not counseled about their potential risk, a new study finds.

Tech’s Next Big Wave: Big Data Meets Biology

What’s driving this frenzy of health care–related dealmaking? It’s data.

CMS finalizes coverage of DNA sequencing for cancer patients

How Geisinger Is Using Gene Screening to Prevent Disease

Consumer interest in genetic testing is exploding. Are providers ready?

New computational method helps to identify tumor cell mutations with greater accuracy

NGS

Google Partnership With WuXi NextCODE to Bring Sequencing to the Cloud
Partnership aims to enhance its comprehensive genomics capabilities – this will include hosting WuXi NextCODE’s core suite of capabilities on Google Cloud and its availability on the Google Cloud Launcher marketplace.

Pacific Biosciences Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent for Concatemer Sequencing
Covers novel methods for single molecule sequencing of concatemers having complementary sense and antisense regions of a nucleic acid sample, including such concatemers generated from a rolling circle amplification reaction.

Edico Genome Announces Flagship Global Distribution Partnership Program
Initiative facilitates expansion of DRAGEN, enabling global markets to better access rapid, accurate and cost-effective genomic analysis.

Fast genome tests are diagnosing some of the sickest babies in time to save them
Rapid DNA sequencing is helping doctors treat critically ill infants in days rather than weeks.

High-throughput sequencing: DFG establishes four competence centres
German Research Foundation spends €14 million ($17.3 million) over three years.

The Hidden Costs of “Free” Genetic Counseling

Illumina Sues Natera for NIPT Patent Infringement

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Why Big Pharma and biotech are betting big on AI
AI could drastically reduce the time it takes to develop new life-saving drugs.

Former Google CEO says artificial intelligence won’t replace your doctor
Eric Schmidt doesn’t think that doctors will be replaced by computers, and stressed that he’d want a human calling the shots but supported by technology.

Tech’s Next Big Wave: Big Data Meets Biology
Big data is thriving the frenzy of healthcare. More specifically, it’s your data: your individual biology, your health history and ever-fluctuating state of well-being, where you go, what you spend, how you sleep, what you put in your body and what comes out.

Blockchain

Top 12 Companies Bringing Blockchain To Healthcare
Security, trust, traceability, and control – these are the promises of the blockchain, the technology with the most potential in healthcare at the moment. As these are highly attractive traits for storing sensitive health data or for the operation of supply chains, many companies aim to leverage its powers for healthcare.

Precision Medicine

Finland’s FinnGen project aims to match genome information with over 500,000 blood samples.
It will be the largest study of its type. At the helm is Aarno Palotie who spoke to PMF editor Mark Glover about his hopes for the ambitious project, the EU’s Privacy Act and the importance of collaboration.

Beyond Flatiron: The Rising Power Of Oncology Clinical Data Companies
What role will emerging oncology clinical data companies soon be and what are the implications of the rise of these types of companies – for both pharma and for healthcare?

The Struggle to Build a Massive ‘Biobank’ of Patient Data
This spring, the NIH will start recruiting participants for one of the most ambitious medical projects ever envisioned.

Estonia has started a program to recruit and genotype 100,000 new biobank participants as part of its National Personalized Medicine programme.

Israel launches $60m initiative to boost tailor-made meds

Miscellaneous

Google signed a key deal with a $9.5 billion device maker to save healthcare from a ‘world of ignorance’
Google has teamed up with Flex. Flex is using the Google Cloud technology to build Bright Insight.

Digital R&D, Transforming the future of clinical development
A Deloitte report which offers guidance for the FDA’s upcoming software regulation pathway.

Theranos CEO Holmes and former president Balwani charged with massive fraud
Elizabeth Holmes, founder of embattled blood testing start-up Theranos, has been charged with “massive fraud.”

Experts warn DNA testing kits could put your genetic information in the wrong hands
Currently, there are anti-discrimination laws that protect you by limiting what your health insurer or employer can learn about your DNA, but those laws don’t apply to life insurance, disability or long-term care insurance companies.

With Medicare Support, Genetic Cancer Testing Goes Mainstream

Google Cloud for Healthcare: new APIs, customers, partners and security updates

ASCO Names CAR T-Cell Immunotherapy 2018 Advance of the Year

Novartis, OneOme, Syapse, Sophia Genetics, and WuXi NextCODE among the top 10 most innovative biotech companies per Fast Company

Publications

The VAAST Variant Prioritizer (VVP): ultrafast, easy to use whole genome variant prioritization tool

RNA-based therapy cures lung cancer in mouse models

Crowdsourced family tree yields new insights about humanity

A FAIR guide for data providers to maximise sharing of human genomic data

Highly parallel direct RNA sequencing on an array of nanopores

Microbiota-gut-brain axis is at epicenter of new approach to mental health

The landscape of genomic alterations across childhood cancers

Complex Structural Variants Resolved by Short-Read and Long-Read Whole Genome Sequencing in Mendelian Disorders

Exponential scaling of single-cell RNA-seq in the past decade

Funding

Helix Announces First Close of $200 Million in Financing to Drive Innovation in Personal Genomics

AstraZeneca spins out 6 drugs and an R&D group into Viela Bio, which emerges with a pivotal program and $250M

Oxford Nanopore announces £100 million ($140M) fundraising from global investors

Tempus Raises $80M in New Funding

News for the month of February 2018

Blockchain was center stage this February. Numerous new companies like Nebula Genomics (the latest brainchild of George Church), EncrypGen, Luna DNA, and Zenome are building platforms where individuals can sell their genetic information in return of cryptocurrency. Genomic data and transaction records will be secured by a blockchain, the same technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Blockchain

This new company wants to sequence your genome and let you share it on a blockchain 
People will be able to earn cryptocurrency in exchange for letting pharma companies use their data.

How can I make money from my DNA?
A Q&A with Prof George Church – If you have your DNA sequenced, someone somewhere will be making money from the data. A new start-up aims to make sure that you get your share.

Disruption by Blockchain
A Q&A with David Koepsell, CEO of EncrypGen.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI adoption rate picking up and radiologists are paying attention to workflow, career impact
Some are skeptical, but big majorities say machine learning could dramatically transform their line of work, according to new research.

A Statistical Search for Genomic Truths
The computer scientist Barbara Engelhardt develops machine-learning models and methods to scour human genomes for the elusive causes and mechanisms of disease.

Artificial Intelligence Can Support Killer Viruses in the War Against Superbugs
The World Health Organization has deemed antibiotic-resistant bacteria to be one of the most pressing global health concerns today. Time is key for developing new treatments, but we have some unlikely allies in the fight.

Genomics/Genetic Testing

Ambry Genetics and Invicro Announce Partnership to Provide Enhanced Capabilities with Advanced Genomics Services to Enable Precision Medicine
Both Invicro and Ambry were recently acquired by Konica Minolta.

Sophia Genetics Announces Genomic Test for Leukemia Detection
The newly announced capture-based myeloid clinical solution receives the CE-IVD mark.

Sema4 Launches Supplemental Newborn Screening Test for 190+ Childhood-Onset Diseases

A New Regulatory Threat to Cancer Patients
Washington may impose needless limits on genetic testing. The proposed new CMS policy would abruptly change the way NGS testing is regulated and administered.

Precision Medicine

A little-known technology that Fitbit and Apple are exploring could be the answer to healthy eating and peak performance
A San Francisco startup called Sano is designing a device that would make tracking our glucose as easy as reading the news or scrolling through Instagram.

Personalized Medicine Approvals Continued to Surge in 2017
The FDA approved 16 new personalized treatments in 2017 alone compared with a decade ago when these drugs only accounted for less than 10% of approvals.

InterSystems teams with Edico Genome for precision medicine workflows
The new partnership aims to enable integration of genomic data across the EHR, making it easier for physicians to order specific tests for personalized medicine.

As Genomics Matures, Funding Priorities Will Shift
Going forward  the NHGRI will focus on categories where it has a unique role to play. Technology development, for instance, will continue to be important. All priorities will fit within the institute’s mandate to improve human health.

NGS

Twist Bioscience Launches Exome and Custom Target Enrichment Solutions for Genomics and Clinical Researchers Conducting Next-Generation Sequencing
New Product Line Leverages Established DNA Synthesis Platform to Revolutionize Exome and Custom Sequencing.

Fact, not fiction: Why the American public needs to better understand genetic sequencing
The distrust in genetic sequencing and medical testing is rampant, and we have a few factors to thank for that. Since we’re in the early stages of genomic medicine there is a certain sense of skepticism.

DNAnexus Launches NGS Clinical Trial Solution
The new Clinical Trial Solution’s (CTS) purpose is to streamline the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data in regulated clinical trials.

10x Genomics Announces New Partnership Programs
The global partnership ecosystem’s purpose is to accelerate customer adoption of 10x Genomics’ sequencing applications through the Certified Service Provider and 10x Compatible Programs.

In our genes: How Google Cloud helps the Broad Institute slash the cost of research
A blog post by Jonathan Sheffi, Product Manager, Genomics & Life Sciences, Google Cloud.

DIY DNA sequencing for $2 a gene
A new sequencing methodology based on DropSynth was developed by researchers at UCLA.

State of Sequencing 2018 – Mendelspod Podcast
Keith Robison, Omics! Omics! blogger discusses the Illumina iSeq System, PacBio, and how close Oxford Nanopore is on PacBio’s heels.

New England Biolabs and Bluebee Partner to Deliver an End-To-End Data Analysis Solution for NEBNext Direct Target Enrichment

GenomeNext Embeds Genomenon’s Mastermind Search in Olympus Platform
The integration complements GenomeNext’s bioinformatic analysis pipelines with accelerated and automated variant curation for clinical genomic interpretation.

Miscellaneous

Apple is launching medical clinics to deliver the ‘world’s best health care experience’ to its employees
The AC Wellness clinics for employees are designed to create a program to promote healthy behavior.

Google sister-company Verily is plotting a move into a fast-growing corner of the health insurance industry
The company is hiring health insurance experts and has been talking about bidding for state Medicaid contracts.

Global Alliance for Genomics & Health Launches Roadmap
The ambitious GA4GH Strategic Roadmap includes the first 28 standards and frameworks to be developed as the organization focuses on aligning with the key needs of the international genomic data community. The roadmap includes deliverables planned across the eight GA4GH work streams focused on the areas of Clinical & Phenotypic Data Capture, Cloud, Data Use & Researcher Identities, Data Security, Discovery, Genomic Knowledge Standards, Large Scale Genomics, and Regulatory & Ethics.

PNAS Podcast on Big Data
Atul Butte explains how researchers can use existing data to answer biomedical questions.

CRISPR

Target, delete, repair
CRISPR is a revolutionary gene-editing tool, but it’s not without risk.

Publications

Clinical testing of BRCA1 and BRCA2: a worldwide snapshot of technological practices

Multiplexed gene synthesis in emulsions for exploring protein functional landscapes

Data sharing and reanalysis of randomized controlled trials in leading biomedical journals with a full data sharing policy: survey of studies published in The BMJ and PLOS Medicine

Integrative omics for health and disease

Reducing Overtreatment of Cancer With Precision Medicine Just What the Doctor Ordered

Smoking gun for a Rare Mutation Mechanism

Funding

Viela Bio, an AstraZeneca spinout, put together a $250 million series A round and a management team from its parent company – AstraZeneca has carved off six inflammation and autoimmune assets to create the new biotech –  to guide the mix of clinical and preclinical programs forward.

Boost Biomes closes $2.05M seed round to develop microbiome-based products

CRISPR Startup Inscripta Raises $55.5M in Series C

Mergers & Acquisitions

Perkin Elmer acquires single-cell genomics company RHS

News for the month of January 2018

The first month of 2018 already was for sure rich in content and activities: It started out with a series of announcements emerging the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference with Illumina announcing their latest sequencer, the  iSeq 100 desktop sequencer, followed by news that included the cloning of two monkeys in China using the same technique as was used at the time for Dolly the sheep, and the sequencing and mapping of the most complete human genome using the Oxford Nanopores MinION device. The combination of the flurry of activities in January being an early sign that 2018 will bring lots of exciting and new developments in healthcare and life science research and applications.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

What if an algorithm could predict death?
The “dying algorithm,” as we might call it, digested and absorbed information from nearly 160,000 patients to train itself. Once it had ingested all the data, it was tested on the remaining 40,000 patients. The algorithm performed surprisingly well.

Microsoft and Adaptive Biotechnologies are using AI to decode the immune system
The companies hope to pair advances in AI and machine learning with recent breakthroughs in biotechnology to map out the immune system and tap into the body’s impressive diagnostic system.

Artificial Intelligence: Implementing a Vision for Precision Medicine and Health
A team involving researchers from the Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory at Virginia Tech and the Biomedical and Translational Informatics (BTI) Institute at Geisinger Health System are working together to advance precision medicine by integrating clinical data, artificial intelligence (AI) systems, and advanced machine-learning (ML) methods.

Precision Medicine

Illumina and KingMed Diagnostics Partner to Develop Next-Generation Sequencing Technology for Chinese FDA Approval
Companies will jointly develop novel oncology and hereditary disease testing applications utilizing Illumina’s NGS technology.

Genomics England Adopts Edico Genome’s DRAGEN Bio-IT
The partnership will support Genomics England in making NGS the standard of care across the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) in 2018.

Illumina Remains NGS Leader But Competitors Expected to Gain, Survey Finds
The survey was conducted in the first half of December 2017 with a subset of GenomeWeb subscribers, targeting a variety of organizations and excluding instrument manufacturers/vendors, management consultants/venture capital/law firms, and public relations/advertising firms. Overall, 303 readers provided answers to at least a subset of the questions.

Spark Therapeutics Sets Price Of Blindness-Treating Gene Therapy At $850,000
A new drug, Luxturna, literally allows blind people to see. It does it by using a virus to insert new genes into patients’ eyes. The cost for Luxturna is $425,000 per eye, or $850,000 for most patients.

Drug Company Consortium To Sequence The Genes Of 500,000 Britons Over Next Two Years
Regeneron will handle the sequencing, and AbbVie, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Biogen, and Pfizer will all contribute $10 million each to create the genetic data, which the pharmaceutical firms will have access to for a year before they make it available for free to any researcher who wants it.

WuXi NextCODE Artificial Intelligence Used to Advance Precision Therapy for Rare Genetic Disorders of Obesity
A partnership with Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company aimed at developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of rare genetic disorders of obesity, under which Rhythm is applying WuXi NextCODE’s proprietary deep learning capabilities to identify key genetic markers for rare metabolic syndromes.

The Promise of Precision Medicine, a Panel Discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF)
Panel includes FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, Illumina’s Jay Flately, Nancy Brown (American Heart Association), V. Narasimhan designated CEO of Novartis, and Minister of Health in Singapor Tan Chorh Chan.

JP Morgan 2018 Healthcare Conference

Illumina Announces iSeq 100
Illumina unveils the $20,000 Desktop Sequencer aimed at sequencing germs.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Introduces Ion GeneStudio S5 Series, A Line of Highly Versatile Next Generation Sequencers

At JP Morgan 2018: A Sense That The Long-Promised Biotech Future Has Arrived; Is Tech Disruption Next?
An opinion piece by David Shaywitz.

Genomic/Genetic Testing

Invitae more than doubles annual volume, exceeds full-year 2017 guidance, and projects momentum to continue in 2018
127% year-over-year growth, 136% growth in revenue, and for 2018: anticipates accessioning at least 250K samples and generating at least $120M in revenue.

NGS

Scientists use pocket-size device MinION, made by Oxford Nanopore Technologie, to map human genetic code
Scientists have assembled the most complete human genome to be mapped with a single technology using the pocket-size portable DNA sequencer MinION.

Broad Institute release beta of a new version of the gnomAD browser
They are looking for test users to check their favorite genes and provide feedback on the new features.

Pharma Industry

Celgene to buy Impact Biomedicines for as much as $7 billion

U.S. pharma executives expect deals to pick up after tax overhaul

The Pharma Exec behind the First Approved Gene Therapy Is Hunting for His Next Big Break
Novartis’s retiring CEO hopes such treatments will soon be deployed against lymphoma and other cancers.

Microbiome

No Guts, No Glory: How Microbiome Research is Changing Medicine
Experts think the microbiome could be the key to treat all sorts of diseases. But how can we make these microorganisms collaborate with us?

Publications

Cost-effectiveness analyses of genetic and genomic diagnostic tests

ChromatinRemodeling Mutations Linked to Immunotherapy Response

Human microbiota, blood group antigens, and disease

These monkey twins are the first primate clones made by the method that developed Dolly

Liquid biopsy’ promises early detection for cancer

Miscellaneous

BGI Genomics Purchases 10 PacBio Sequel Systems
The Sequel System will allow BGI to meet the growing demand for SMRT Sequencing services for bacterial, plant, and animal de novo, transcriptomics, and epigenomics sequencing, and also in fields outside of agriculture, such as in conservation biology. Currently BGI has two Sequel Systems and an RS II Sequencing System.

Yes, They’ve Cloned Monkeys in China. That Doesn’t Mean You’re Next.
This is the first time that primates have been cloned with the same technique that produced Dolly the sheep more than 20 years ago.

Amazon’s moves in health care over the last year are finally starting to make sense
Amazon announced a partnership with Berkshire Hathaway and J.P. Morgan Chase to improve health care for employees of the three companies in the United States.

2017: The year cell and gene therapies came of age
2017 was a turning point for cell and gene therapies. The year saw three regulatory approvals, 850 companies focused on this space, and 946 clinical trials underway globally. Financings jumped from USD 4.2 billion in 2016 to USD 7.5 billion in 2017. Mergers and acquisitions also grew from USD 1.053 million in 2016 to USD 13,539 million in 2017.

Would You Sell Your DNA For Cryptocurrency?
A new startup, EncrypGen, wants to help people to sell their genetic code.

Funding

Stratos Genomics raises $20M to commercialize fast DNA sequencing technology

DNAnexus raises $58 Million in Series E to accelerate expansion

This in-demand AI genius just got $175 million from Silicon Valley’s biggest investors

Digital health investments reached record level in 2017

News for the month of December 2017

What a year! As we wrapped-up 2017, December’s precision medicine and artificial intelligence news remained impressive. The FDA approved the first gene therapy for an inherited disease – Spark Therapeutics makes Luxturna, the new treatment for childhood-blindness that is injected into the eye to repair a defective RPE65 gene. Also noteworthy in December was the release of Google’s DeepVariant tool. It is available on the Google Cloud Platform and uses the latest AI technology to analyze human genome data.

2017 was a stellar year for life science and we can’t wait to share with you what news 2018 brings!

Precision Medicine

UW, Seattle Children’s, and Fred Hutch launch $50M Institute for Precision Medicine, Using Genetics to Revolutionize Health
Co-founder Jeff Brotman & others donate $50M and launch “The Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine” in Seattle.

BGI & Sanguine Join Forces to Increase Speed and Efficiency of Precision Clinical Trial Recruitment
The combined offering will allow drug developers to significantly increase the homogeneity of their trial cohorts, reducing risk and cost and increasing the likelihood of success.

Will Europe Turn a Corner in Personalized Medicine?
A massive improvement in the health of Europe’s citizens is within reach with the European Alliance for Personalized Medicine (EAPM). The European Personalized Medicine Association is planning to fund scholarships in education and training of future healthcare professionals with a focus of using diagnostics and patient engagement and empowerment centered on personalized medicine

A Research Project That Will Match Genome Information with 500,000 Blood Samples Has Been Launched in Finland
New Finnish genomics study is a first of its kind and scale.

First Gene Therapy For Inherited Disease Gets FDA Approval
This Food and Drug Administration approved Luxturna, a gene therapy developed by Spark Therapeutics, to treat an inherited form of blindness.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Google Released a New AI Tool, Called DeepVariant, That Makes Sense of Your Genome
New genetic sequence AI tool available on Google Cloud.

Zebra Medical Vision Offers $1 AI Medical Scans on Google Cloud
Zebra Medical Vision creates AI algorithms that can read medical images and detect anything untoward before humans.

Using AI To Make Sense Of The Human Genome
Google is tackling head-on the challenge of developing a better understanding of our genome via a new tool, called DeepVariant. It utilizes AI and aims to autonomously mutations in the sequencing data, and especially to distinguish them from random errors.

Genetic Programmers Are the Next Startup Millionaires
The big-ticket acquisition of genetic design company Cell Design Labs signals a coming wave of precision cures.

Tempus Unveils a Standalone Tool for Structuring Clinical Data at Scale
The two-year-old company recently began offering an operating system, dubbed Tempus O, designed to structure, cleanse, and annotate clinical data.

What Can Machine Learning Do? Workforce Implications
A review of AI’s economic impact.

Microsoft’s AI Chief Says the Technology Isn’t the Biggest Hurdle
AI is improving tech products — the real challenge is making sure it does so in a way that people trust.

Genomics/Genetic Testing

Biocartis and Amgen Sign CDx Development Agreement for Biomarker Tests
The aim of this agreement is to register the biomarker tests with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a companion diagnostic test for Amgen’s drug Vectibix (panitumumab).

ASCO Forms Collaboration with Two Big Data Firms to Grow CancerLinQ
The 10-year collaboration gives Tempus and PH.AI access to de-identified data of more than a 1M records in CancerLinQ.

New Genome Scores Predict Breast Cancer Odds for Any Woman
Drawing on giant population studies, the diagnostics company Myriad Genetics introduces a novel type of DNA test to predict cancer.

Agendia and Bluebee Partner to Bring New NGS-Based MammaPrint® BluePrint® Breast Cancer Kit to Market
The partnership with Bluebee enables secure global access to test results, while ensuring all data complies with local data privacy and residency regulations.

Immunotherapy

A Q&A with Vas Narashimhan Head of Global Drug Development and Chief Medical Officer at Novartis with Matthew Herper
How Novartis is using digital technologies and data to become a Drug & Data company, justifying the high cost of CAR-T treatments and other treatments.

Juno Therapeutics and Thermo Fisher Scientific Announce CAR T Manufacturing Partnership
Seven-year non-exclusive licensing and supply agreement.

NGS

Edico Genome’s DRAGEN Solution For Secondary Analysis Of Genomic Data Now Available via Seven Bridges
Edico Genome’s DRAGEN Germline V2, DRAGEN Somatic V2 and DRAGEN RNA Gene Fusion Detection Pipelines are now live on the Seven Bridges platform, enabling customers to leverage DRAGEN’s ultra-rapid speeds and accuracy.

CRISPR-Cas9

With No Cure in Sight, CRISPR Could Offer Hope for Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Berkeley researchers aimed to knock out the mutant SOD1 gene in mice with ALS using the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9.

CRISPR Might Be Able to Cure Disease, Without Changing Genes
CRISPR used not to edit genes, but to turn genes on off and on instead.

CRISPR in 2018: Coming to a Human Near You
Patients in Europe and the U.S. could be treated with CRISPR-based therapies as soon as 2018 – the first clinical trials are slated to begin.

Publications

In Vivo Target Gene Activation via CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Trans-epigenetic Modulation

A Living Biobank of Breast Cancer Organoids Captures Disease Heterogeneity

Developing a ‘Personalome’ for Precision Medicine: Emerging Methods that Compute Interpretable Effect Sizes from Single-Subject Transcriptomes

The whole-genome panorama of cancer drivers

It’s My Heart. Why is it Not my Data?

A High-resolution Map of the Human Small Non-coding Transcriptome

Miscellaneous

List of this Year’s Breakthrough Prize Winners
Includes biologists Joanne Chory, Don Cleveland, Kim Nasmyth, Katzutoshi Mori, and Peter Wlater.

Gene-based Zika Vaccine is Safe and Immunogenic in Healthy Adults
Vaccine developed by NIH scientists shows promise in Phase 1 testing.

CVS Health to Buy Aetna for Around $69 Billion
CVS Health and Aetna have merged in a bid to reinvent health care with a vertically integrated stack of services and touch points. And now comes the hard part: Using data and analytics to really make it all work.

Is it Time to Retire Cholesterol Tests?
Rather a truer indicator of the threat to our arteries than absolute cholesterol levels, some researchers believe, is routine apoB tests.

Amazon is in exploratory talks with generic-drug makers
Amazon has talked to makers of generic drugs, including Mylan and Sandoz, about a potential entry into the pharmacy space.

Health Systems’ IT Priorities for 2018: Cybersecurity Technologies, Patient-Generated Data
The Pittsburgh-based Center for Connected Medicine surveyed IT leaders at more than 20 major U.S. health systems and found that 92% plan to increase spending technology to improve cybersecurity next year.

Podcasts For Health Entrepreneurs
Includes Mendelspod, A Healthy Dose by Oxeon Partners and Bessemer VP, The Long Run by Luke Timmerman, and more.

The Most Life-Changing Breakthroughs in Genetics of 2017
CAR T cell therapy, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, FDA approved the first consumer DNA tests for disease risk, and more.

FDA Publishes Draft Guidance on Investigational IVDs Used in Therapeutic Product Clinical Trials
The draft guidance is intended to inform both product sponsors and IRBs regarding the application of the Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) regulation to investigational in vitro diagnostic devices (IVDs) used in therapeutic product clinical trials.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Unstoppable Gilead Takes Out Bay Area CAR-T Biotech in $567M Deal
Gilead and its subsidiary, Kite Pharma, are buying Cell Design Laboratories.

Funding

Coimbra Genomics Raised €2.4M ($2.8M) to Accelerate the Expansion of their Digital Platform ELSIE to International Markets

Camden Partners Closes Biomedical Technology-focused Venture Capital Fund

News for the month of November 2017

Precision Medicine was center stage this November. Geisinger Medical Center is testing whether DNA sequencing can be the new routine for standard of care to US patients. In China, one million residents of the city of Nanjing will take part in a project to sequence their genomes. A massive data storage facility is being built and researchers believe the population genetics project will result in improved disease diagnosis and treatment.

Precision Medicine

Fighting Cancer One Patient At a Time
What drives drug companies to invest in markets of just a few thousand people?

Two Top Ex-Google Scientists Have Left Grail, a $1 Billion Cancer Startup
The departures come after Grail’s CEO Jeff Huber and lead scientist stepped down.

Precision Medicine: How an Evolving Definition has Helped Advance Clinical Accuracy
The term precision medicine has solidified itself as the critical descriptive concept of medicines’ future, although history tells it is hardly set in stone.

Geisinger Begins Returning Clinically Actionable Exome Sequencing Results to Patients
In an attempt to figure out how to best implement clinical sequencing within a health system, Geisinger Health System has begun returning clinically actionable results in a set of genes to patients enrolled in the MyCode Community Health Initiative.

More than 500 Geisinger MyCode participants receive clinical results from exome sequencing; most risks previously unknown
Geisinger is reaching more than 500 of its patients with clinical genetic risks through the MyCode Community Health Initiative (MyCode).

A Chinese Province Is Sequencing One Million of Its Residents’ Genomes
This project is an effort to identify population trends and the genetic basis of health disorders.

Genetics, Genomics, and Big Data in Medicine with Eric Schadt
Hidden Forces podcast exploring the information technology of biology: DNA. In other words, we explore the world of genomics. This is where big data looms large.

Precision’ Prevails Over ‘Personalized’ Medicine in New ESMO Glossary
European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) published a glossary designed to standardize the language in the field of Precision Medicine, and thus improve communication between oncologists, researchers and patients.

Blockchain Beyond EHRs: Transforming Value-Based Payment, Precision Medicine, Patient-Centric Care
The considerable hype around blockchain is starting to be tempered by enterprises earning practical experience and identifying worthwhile use cases for the technology.

How Pharmaceutical Firms Can Shape the Future of Healthcare
A pwc report on capitalizing on precision medicine.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Can AI Keep You Healthy?
A Chinese entrepreneur wants to track your health data and suggest ways to improve. But are computers really smart enough to make sense of all that information?

Tedtalk: Not What but Why: Machine Learning for Understanding Genomics by Barbara Engelhardt
Why AI and Machine Learning are the right tools to solve the problems of genomics.

As the Physician Shortage Grows, Healthcare Embraces AI Technology
By 2025, the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts the shortage of physicians in the U.S. will reach an estimated 34,600 to 88,000 doctors.

Google’s New Accelerator Focuses on AI Health Startups
The scheme is aimed at fostering startup enterprises that are set to introduce technological solutions for healthcare.

How Machine Learning, Big Data, and AI Are Changing Healthcare Forever
Machine learning is improving diagnostics, predicting outcomes, and just beginning to scratch the surface of personalized care.

Genomics/Genetic Testing

Statement From FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Implementation of Agency’s Streamlined Development and Review Pathway for Consumer Tests That Evaluate Genetic Health Risks
Eases regulatory path -> the agency issued a notice of its intent to allow genetic health risk (GHR) tests to be exempted from premarket review under certain conditions.

Politically Connected Cancer Mogul Faces Questions Over His Genetic Tests
Patrick Soon-Shiong touted sales of his closely scrutinized test without revealing the purchaser was on his payroll.

Genomenon Announces First Automated, Evidence-Based Blood Cancer Panel
This new cancer panel was produced using automated machine learning techniques that mine proven disease-gene associations from millions of scientific articles.

What You Need to Know About FDA Oversight of Genomics Research
To raise awareness of the IDE regulation, ASHG hosted a policy luncheon at ASHG 2017.

FDA Opens the Doors for Consumer Genetic Testing
While this is a big step forward for consumers eager to be more engaged in managing their own health, there are reasons to keep a healthy dose of caution on hand.

NGS

Seven Bridges Leads Public-Private Partnership to Develop New Data Ecosystem for NIH
Seven Bridges will lead a team consisting of Repositive Ltd., a UK-based software company developing tools to improve access to genomic research data; Elsevier, the informatics analytics business specializing in science and health; and the Boston Veterans Affair Research Institute, which has created the Million Veteran Program, the largest genomic database in the world. Together, they are forming a private-public consortium called FAIR4CURES.

Illumina NovSeq Site List
List of Illumina NovaSeq sites based on news stories, press releases and tweets is at 45 and counting.

Cloud Computing

IBM Eases Out Bluemix Name, Rebrands All as IBM Cloud
There will be no changes to products offering as a result of this rebranding strategy.

Alibaba Says Cloud Sales Increased 99 Percent in ‘Outstanding’ Quarter
An increase to $447 million for the quarter.

CRISPR Technology

Scientists Have Used Cells as a Recording Device for the First Time
Via Temporal Recording Arrays by CRISPR Expansion (TRACE), the researchers programmed the cells to respond to a biological input by increasing or decreasing the amount of a certain piece of DNA.

Miscellaneous

Caris Life Sciences Files Patent Infringement Suit vs. Foundation Medicine
At issue are five Caris patents covering the company’s system of performing molecular profiling of tumors to identify treatment options based on groups of molecular targets not traditionally or conventionally associated with various types of cancer.

Is it time to say goodbye to ClinicalTrials.Gov?
Sean Parker: “ClinicalTrials.gov is it totally unbiased, and it is just a directory. A lot of those clinical trials are somewhere between useless and harmful. So, it is very difficult to know anything about whether you should enroll in a trial.”

A Data-Backed Look Into Silicon Valley’s Gender Equality Problem
23andMe is the most gender-balanced office with ~50% female, all other companies employ more men than women.

Singapore Wants To Add Biotech Hub To Its List Of Accomplishments
Singapore is banking on lucrative medical and pharmaceutical patents to be a new economic growth engine in the 21st century.

Publications

Universal Patterns of Selection in Cancer and Somatic Tissues

Humans Are Still Evolving — And We Can Watch it Happen

Gene Expression Map of Human Body Gives Value to Variants

The Most Popular Genes in the Human Genome

Standards and Guidelines for Validating Next-Generation Sequencing Bioinformatics Pipelines: A Joint Recommendation of the Association for Molecular Pathology and College of American Pathologists

Funding

2017 is a Record Year for VC Funding in Biotech, Genetics

These 10 Companies Received 38% of Digital Health Investment Funding in 2016

Counsyl Raises $80M

Syapse Raises $30M in Series D to Scale its Precision Medicine Program

Genialis Raises $2.3M Seed Round to Advance Visual Exploration of Genomics Data