Find here a listing of the latest industry news in genomics, genetics, precision medicine, and beyond. We will update and add to this page on a regular basis. This page is not a compilation of all relevant information but rather contains some key highlights that we consider to be of importance to share with the community.

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News for the month of June 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Community-level evidence for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine protection of unvaccinated individuals
Antibodies elicited by mRNA-1273 vaccination bind more broadly to the receptor binding domain than do those from SARS-CoV-2 infection This means single RBD mutations have less impact on neutralization by vaccine sera compared to convalescent sera – based on the results from a COVID-19 patient study who received the Moderna mRNA vaccine.
‘A perilous point’: Global agencies call for $50 billion investment to combat Covid-19 With additional funding to COVAX, a WHO vaccine distribution program, the global agencies maintained that the current goal of vaccinating roughly 30% of the populations in low and middle-income countries could be widened to 40% and, possibly 60% by the first half of 2022. And ultimately, added investment could generate an estimated $9 trillion in additional global output by 2025, according to an IMF analysis.

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

German drug maker Morphosys to buy Constellation Pharma in $1.7 billion deal

Precision Medicine

NIH’s All of Us Research Program records significant progress in participant diversity and research underway More than 386,000 adults have consented to be part of this landmark initiative with 278,000 adults completing all core initial steps of the program, including answering surveys, allowing access to electronic health records, and sharing bio samples. More than 80 percent of participants come from communities that have been historically underrepresented in biomedical research, making the All of Us dataset one of the largest and most diverse of its kind.
Children’s Hospital LA Awarded $2M for Precision Medicine Study Adverse childhood experiences include abuse, neglect, racism, and witnessing economic hardships. These experiences can have negative psychological effects on children. The study will utilize precision medicine techniques to pinpoint biomarkers of early-life stress.

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Machine learning is booming in medicine. It’s also facing a credibility crisis Hundreds of studies flooded onto preprint servers and into medical journals claiming to demonstrate AI’s ability to perform those tasks with high accuracy. It wasn’t until many months later that a research team from the University of Cambridge in England began examining the models — more than 400 in total — and reached a much different conclusion: Every single one was fatally flawed.

Liquid Biopsy

Grail starts selling multi-cancer liquid biopsy Galleri in the US

CRISPR / Cas9 Genome Editing

Genetic base editing treats sickle cell disease in mice A team led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has now demonstrated a base editing approach that efficiently corrects the mutation underlying SCD in patient blood stem cells and in mice.

Single Cell / Spatial Genomics

Miscellaneous

CareDx To Acquire Transplant Hero Medication Management Application
Maryland and Montana are restricting police access to DNA databases
Landmark Alzheimer’s drug approval confounds research community Researchers’ concerns now centre on aducanumab’s tumultuous passage through clinical trials and the resulting data set, which is incomplete and unpublished.
FDA grants historic approval to Alzheimer’s drug designed to slow cognitive decline FDA approved first new drug for Alzheimer’s disease in nearly two decades. While other drugs treat symptoms of Alzheimer’s, this new drug, called Aduhelm, is the first to attack what some believe is an underlying cause of the disease and slow cognitive decline, albeit marginally. The FDA granted marketing clearance to the drug over the strong objections of a panel of independent experts it convened in November.
Will you accept this capital investment? Biotech and health startups bet on a strange new reality show for crowdfunding A panel of judges, who debate whether to invest on air, incl. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, former U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, and former NSYNC band member Lance Bass. Together, the seven judges form “The Circle of Money,” where companies must venture for cash and validation.
Genomenon and Nostos Genomics Partner to Accelerate Rare Genetic Disease Diagnoses
Former FDA official Abernethy joins Google health spinoff Abernethy will become the president of the clinical research business at Alphabet’s health information technology arm Verily
Amazon Web Services Aims to Remove Computational ‘Heavy Lifting’ for Genomics Customers

Publications

The emerging landscape of single-molecule protein sequencing technologies This article describes new single-molecule protein sequencing and identification technologies alongside innovations in mass spectrometry that will eventually enable broad sequence coverage in single-cell profiling which will facilitate biological discovery and open new avenues for ultrasensitive disease diagnostics.

Mice fathers pass down stress responses to offspring via sperm
Detect-seq reveals out-of-protospacer editing and target-strand editing by cytosine base editors
A complete human genome sequence is close: how scientists filled in the gaps Researchers added 200 million DNA base pairs and 115 protein-coding genes — but they’ve yet to entirely sequence the Y chromosome.

News for the month of May 2021

May brought interesting funding rounds: Causaly raised $17M (Series A), Bluestart Genomics $70M (Series C), GenapSys $70M (Series D), while Singular Genomics is seeking an IPO and Ginkgo Bioworks is coming to market via a SPAC. Additional May highlights included: ACMG has released an updated policy statement and gene list for the reporting of secondary findings (SF), Aetion, Flatiron Health, IQVIA, Syapse, and Tempus launched a RWE alliance, and the Senate weighs investing $120 Billion in Science to bolster the United States’ ability to compete with China.

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Oh those variants – Anu Acharya, CEO, Mapmygenome India explains the need for expanding genome sequencing of COVID-19 samples and the significance of the variants discovered so far
Researchers show SARS-CoV-2 genes can be integrated into the human genome
WHO classifies triple-mutant Covid variant from India as global health risk
AstraZeneca weighs seeking full, not emergency, US approval for Covid-19 shot, reports WSJ
Real-world studies detail high Pfizer COVID vaccine protection
New analysis finds global Covid death toll is double official estimates
U.S. will back proposal to waive intellectual property rights and boost Covid-19 vaccine production The proposal, which was first introduced before the World Trade Organization last fall by South Africa and India, would cover patents, industrial designs, copyrights, and protection of trade secrets. Ultimately, a waiver would make it easier for countries that permit compulsory licensing to allow a manufacturer to export vaccines. The move came amid growing concern that low- and middle-income countries were being left out after wealthy nations reached deals with vaccine makers.

Funding

Engine Biosciences raises $43M in Series to decipher genetic codes for new medicines through machine learning and combinatorial genetics
Causaly raises $17 million to accelerate medical research, drug discovery and delivery of scientific breakthroughs
Left out of SPAC pack, BioTheryX raises $92M in rare series E to hold over until potential end of year IPO
Caris Life Sciences Raises $830 Million in Growth Equity Capital to Continue to Expand its Precision Medicine Platform
Singular Genomics is latest early stage San Diego startup to seek an IPO
Bluestar Genomics Closes $70M Series C Funding, Expands Scientific Advisory Board
Flagship debuts Laronde to develop RNA-based meds that could turn cells into protein factories Laronde launches with $50M
Biocartis Receives EUR 1.4m Grant to Support Development of New Idylla™ Technology to Unlock Potential in Molecular Surveillance
Ginkgo Bioworks IPO: Biotech Bringing Stock via $15 Billion SPAC Deal
AI-enabled fertility company Alife scores $9.5M in Seed funding – Alife also added Deena Shakir, a partner at Lux Capital, to its board of directors.
Perlmutter named CEO of Eikon, which raised $148M in Series A and applies super-resolution fluorescence microscopy—technology to drug discovery The startup disclosed the hiring of the former president of Merck Research Laboratories alongside news that it has raised a $148 million series A round
GenapSys rakes in $70M for tabletop genomic sequencing platform
binx health Raises $104 Million in Series E Financing

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

Guardant360® CDx Receives FDA Approval as First and Only Liquid Biopsy Companion Diagnostic for Amgen’s LUMAKRAS™ (sotorasib) KRASG12C Inhibitor for Use in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Genome UK: 2021 to 2022 implementation plan The plan includes to improve diversity of genomic data, the roll-out of whole genome sequencing to patients with a suspected rare disease, to deliver the first phase of a next-generation approach for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and to pilot participant recruitment processes.
ACMG Releases Two Important Secondary Findings Policies: Announces Recommendations for Future SF Reporting and New SF v3.0 List, with Plans to Update SF List Annually
ZS Associates and Seven Bridges Partner to Innovate Drug Research and Propel Precision Medicine
AdventHealth and Sema4 Launch a Data-driven Precision Medicine Program to Optimize Patient Care and Outcomes

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

CRISPR Editing in Primates
Eliminating base-editor-induced genome-wide and transcriptome-wide off-target mutations
The next frontier for synthetic lethality in cancer – CRISPR screens and machine learning are unlocking the potential of synthetic lethality to treat patients with ‘undruggable’ cancers.
Scientists Have Created A New Gene-Editing Tool That Could Outperform CRISPR – It is faster and simpler than CRISPR, enabling millions of genetic experiments to be performed simultaneously.
CRISPR diagnostics

Genomic / Genetic Testing

Single Cell / Spatial Genomics

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Quest partners with Paige to create AI-enabled cancer pathology products The collaboration pairs Paige’s AI capabilities and digitized pathology slide data with Quest’s scale and pathology expertise.

RWE / RWD

Leading Real-World Data and Analytics Organizations Form Industry Coalition to Advance Policies to Support Regulatory Use of Real-World Evidence

Miscellaneous

U.S. Senate Unanimously Confirms Dr. Eric Lander to Become Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Scientific panel loosens ’14-day rule’ limiting how long human embryos can be grown in the lab
Scientists rally around misconduct consultant facing legal threat after challenging COVID-19 drug researcher Elisabeth Bik, a scientific integrity consultant is being accused of harassment and blackmail by a lawyer representing Didier Raoult, a controversial microbiologist at the Hospital Institute of Marseille (IHU) Mediterranean Infection in France. Bik discussed in detail the problems associated with the hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19 study published in May 2020 by Raoult.
What Amazon’s potential move into at-home medical tests could mean for the market
Gene therapy restores immune function in children with rare immunodeficiency
2021 Warren Alpert Prize Awarded to Two Scientists for RNA Discoveries
Senate Weighs Investing $120 Billion in Science to Counter China The legislation has drawn bipartisan support amid the coronavirus pandemic as Democrats and Republicans have become increasingly concerned about Beijing’s supply chain dominance.
Illumina, Roche Agree to Settle NIPT Patent Lawsuits
Berkeley will auction NFTs of invention disclosure forms filed by the creators of CRISPR and cancer immunotherapy
Guardant Health Files Lawsuit Against Natera for Misleading Oncologists

Publication

News for the month of April 2021

Some of the April highlights included: Israel’s COVID deaths hit zero with almost 60% of its population being vaccinated; the FDA and CDC lifted the recommended pause on J&J COVID vaccine use following thorough safety review after a two weeks pause due to safety concerns; Illumina filed action for annulment of European Commissions’ decision asserting jurisdiction to review the acquisition of GRAIL; and Geisinger was awarded $3.6M to study genetics of cancer.

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Study reveals a hidden role of circulating microRNA as a driver of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Vaccines Won’t Protect Millions of Patients With Weakened Immune Systems Many cannot produce enough infection-fighting cells to fend off the coronavirus. But researchers are testing one therapy that may help: monoclonal antibodies.
One million coronavirus sequences: popular genome site hits mega milestone GISAID’s impressive effort to understand the spread of COVID-19 has seen scientists upload sequences from most nations on Earth.
SARS-CoV genome sequencing to be r a mped up
Ceres Nanosciences Receives $8.2M NIH Award to Improve Wastewater-Based COVID-19 Surveillance
Joint CDC and FDA Statement on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine
Multilevel proteomics reveals host perturbations by SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

NorthShore and Sema4 Launch System-Wide Genomics Program to Improve Primary and Specialty Care with Data-Driven Insights
Sequencing Study Finds Over 500 Structural Variants Linked to Hereditary Cancer and Cardiovascular Disorders
The University of Alabama at Birmingham of Medicine and UAB Hospital laboratorieshave launched the Genomic Diagnostics Lab (GDL), an effort to increase genetic testing and advance precision medicine therapies help develop precision medicine treatments.
Geisinger awa r ded $3.6 million to study genetics of cancer Contract with NCI will leverage data from Geisinger’s MyCode Community Health Initiative
Study Uses Foundation Medicine Database to Map Common DDR Genes in Solid Tumors
Why Prioritizing Genomic Research Is Critical for The Future of Healthcare
BC Platforms Partners with TripleBlind to Power Federated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Data Privacy Approaches
Genomenon and Limbus Partner to Advance Genomic Variant Interpretation

NGS / Genomics Platforms

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

CRISPR Screening Combined with Chromatin Accessibility Sequencing Researchers have developed a genetic screening platform that jointly captures CRISPR gene perturbations and single-cell chromatin accessibility genome-wide. The new platform could help researchers study how links between genetic changes and chromatin accessibility may contribute to diseases such as cancer.
The potential of CRISPR-based diagnostic assays and treatment approaches against COVID-19
Scientists call for awareness of unintended mutations from CRISPR
New CRISPR technology offers unrivaled control of epigenetic inheritance
Genome-wide programmable transcriptional memory by CRISPR-based epigenome editing Novel CRISPR-based tool called “CRISPRoff” allows scientists to switch off any gene without making a single edit to the genetic code. Gene remains switched off in the cell’s descendants for hundreds of generations, unless switched back on w/CRISPRon.
The 221b Foundation Grants Licenses to Multiple Organizations to Develop and Distribute CRISPR COVID-19 Diagnostic Kits Globally The 221b Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by Sherlock Biosciences to address the global COVID-19 pandemic while promoting diverse representation in STEM.
Chromothripsis as an on-target consequence of CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing

Genomic / Genetic Testing

Liquid Biopsy

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

NSG and Acclivis sign deal to develop AI genomics workflow – Singapore company NSG signs an MOU with Acclivis to create a new cloud-based workflow for its AI genomics platform

Miscellaneous

Biden Administration Announces New Genomic Sequencing Funding and Initiatives
In a first, FDA cites violation of clinical trials reporting law Acceleron Pharma was cited for its failure to provide data from a completed trial of its experimental drug to treat kidney cancer.
Church joins the NFT craze with plans to auction off his genome George Church’s NFT will comprise all of his personal genomic sequencing data, plus a digital artwork depicting the scientist and his #genome.
Google is exploring a health record tool for patients
When a cardiologist flagged the lack of diversity at premier medical journals, the silence was telling
Amazon to Give Out $12M Under Next Phase of AWS Diagnostics Development Initiative
NIH experts call for accelerated research to address concurrent HIV and COVID-19 pandemics
Biden, Congress roll out big plans to expand National Science Foundation The size of the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget increase, including how much would go to the new directorate, is still very much up in the air. But “the idea is to massively expand the budget and mission of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help the United States out-innovate China is gaining political momentum in Washington, D.C.”

Publications

News for the month of March 2021

The March highlights were across all areas of genomics and precision medicine and included: Spatial transcriptomics taking – yet again – center stage at the annual AGBT conference; the FTC challenging Illumina’s proposed acquisition of cancer detection test maker Grail; Insightful Science acquiring Dotmatics (the deal is valued at $690M USD); Roche acquiring GenMark Diagnostics in a $1.8B deal; the SEC charging uBiome co-founders with $60M fraud; and machine learning-driven drug discovery and development raising $400M (Insitro Series C round).

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Is COVID-19 poised to become an annual seasonal infection?
CDC and NIH bring COVID-19 self-testing to residents in two locales As many as 160,000 residents across the two communities will have access to free, rapid antigen tests that they can administer themselves to use three times a week for one month.
People Who Already Had Covid-19 Might Not Need A Second Dose Of The Vaccine, Study Finds
Israeli Study Offers First Real-World Glimpse of COVID-19 Vaccines in Action Large clinical trials study shows that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be up to 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
Got Questions About Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine? We Have Answers A great article to why we should not disregard the Johnson & Johnson COVID19 vaccine too early.
How Do COVID-19 Vaccines Compare? A side-by-side look at the three vaccines authorized in the U.S.
The short-term, middle-term, and long-term future of the coronavirus
BioNTech founders receive one of Germany’s highest honors The founders of BioNTech, Özlem Türeci and Ugur Sahin, will receive the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Federal Order of Merit for developing a coronavirus vaccine, Germany’s presidential office announced on Friday.
Merck to Help Produce Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 Vaccine; BARDA to Provide Merck With Funding to Expand Merck’s Manufacturing Capacity for COVID-19 Vaccines and Medicines The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will provide Merck with funding of up to $268.8 million to adapt and make available a number of existing manufacturing facilities for the production of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccines and medicines.
Antibody Response Affects COVID-19 Outcomes in Kids and Adults New study shows that the antibody responses in kids and adults with mild COVID-19 are quite similar. However, the complications seen in kids with MIS-C and adults with severe COVID-19 appear to be driven by two distinctly different types of antibodies involved in different aspects of the immune response.
Investigational AstraZeneca vaccine prevents COVID-19

Funding

British Biotech Oxford Nanopore Prepares for $3 Billion London IPO
Genomenon Completes $5.3M Financing Round
insitro Raises $400 Million in Series C Financing
Caribou Biosciences Raises $115M Series C Financing to Advance Next-Generation CRISPR Technologies and Allogeneic Cell Therapy Pipeline
Acuity Spatial Genomics Announces Formation to Open up New Frontiers for in situ, Spatial 3D Genomics
Genomics plc completes oversubscribed $30M funding round
ElevateBio Scales Disruptive Cell and Gene Therapy Business Model with $525 Million Series C Financing
A defining moment for digital behavioral health: Four market trends 2020 was the biggest year yet for the digital behavioral health market with companies raking in a record $2.4B in venture funding.

Mergers & Acquisitions

FTC Challenges Illumina’s Proposed Acquisition of Cancer Detection Test Maker Grail citing the proposed acquisition will diminish innovation in the U.S. market for MCED tests.
Insightful Science Joins Forces with Dotmatics to Form a Leading Cloud-First Scientific R&D Company
IDT Acquires Swift Biosciences, a Pioneer in the Development of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Library Preparation Genomics Kits for Academic, Translational, and Clinical Research
Roche to acquire GenMark Diagnostics in $1.8B deal
Bio-Techne to Acquire Asuragen for up to $320M
Agilent to Acquire Resolution Bioscience, Strengthening Leadership Position in Cancer Diagnostics Combination brings together Resolution Bioscience’s noninvasive liquid biopsy platform for cancer diagnostics with Agilent’s tissue-based companion diagnostics and global commercial and regulatory scale.
Hologic Acquires European Molecular Diagnostic Company Diagenode for Approximately $159 Million

Precision Medicine

Genome Sequencing in Modern Medicine: An Interview With Genomics England An interview with Richard Scott, clinical director at Genomics England.
Oncology Platform Support for Routine Care
How Useful is Next-Generation Sequencing for Patients with Advanced Cancer?
IQVIA Virtual Trial Solutions Used in More than 60 Trials To date, IQVIA has enrolled more than 150,000 subjects across 10 therapy areas
How a Digital Platform Provides Genomic Data at the Point of Care NorthShore University HealthSystem has built a digital platform that delivers genomic data to providers at the point of care.
Foundation Medicine and InformedDNA® Collaborate to Improve Access to Genetic Counseling for Advanced Cancer Patients
Guardant360® CDx Liquid Biopsy CE-Marked for Comprehensive Tumor Mutation Profiling Across All Solid Cancers
Myriad Genetics Joins Forces with Intermountain Precision Genomics for a Comprehensive Offering of Germline and Somatic Tumor Testing Services
Genialis, BioLab Partner to Improve Precision Medicine Using Data Mining

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Spatial Transcriptomics

NanoString’s GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler Reveals Insights into COVID-19 in Two New Nature Publications
Spatial Surge: AGBT Updates On Single-Cell and Spatial Genomics, In Situ Analysis, More Includes product development updates from Vizgen, NanoString Technologies, Inc., Pacific Biosciences, ROSALIND (formerly OnRamp Bio), 10x Genomics, and Rebus Biosystems.
NanoString Launches Technology Access Program for the Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI) Platform and Showcases Spatially Resolved Transcriptomic Research at AGBT 2021
Rebus Biosystems launches spatial transcriptomics analysis platform

Real-World Data / Real-World Evidence

Syapse Expands Strategic Collaboration with Pfizer Focusing on Real-World Evidence

Liquid Biopsy

Genetron Health Releases New Data Results of HCCscreen™ for Liver Cancer Early Screening in China

Miscellaneous

Provisional Mortality Data — United States, 2020
FDA Approves First Cell-Based Gene Therapy for Adult Patients with Multiple Myeloma
Amy Abernethy, deputy commissioner who aimed to amp up FDA’s tech knowhow, to leave post
SEC charges co-founders of shuttered microbiome startup uBiome with $60 million fraud
An Overview of Next-Generation Sequencing A great overview of next-generation sequencing, including evolution, different sequencing methodologies, sample preparation, long- vs. short-read sequencing, sequence data analysis, applications, and bottlenecks.
NIH researchers develop guidelines for reporting polygenic risk scores
Illumina Inks $750M Credit Facility With Bank of America The proceeds of loans under the credit facility “may be used to finance the working capital needs, and for general corporate or other lawful purposes, of Illumina and its subsidiaries,” the firm said.
New Best Buy Health services for Apple Watch aim to keep older adults safe and independent Apple Watch users must download Lively App and subscribe to the Lively Health and Safety Services to use the Best Buy Health features on their watch. Lively Health & Safety plans start at $19.99 a month.
Accelerating Scientific Study With Scalable Single-Cell Sequencing
Amazon Care, Intermountain, Ascension launch hospital-at-home healthcare alliance
QIAGEN (QGEN) Launches QIAcube Connect MDx Platform Globally
Rock Health and Stanford Digital Health published Digital Health Consumer Adoption Report 2020 – Surveyed 4,000 consumers to understand consumer adoption of digital health technologies. Over the five years prior to 2020, adoption has steadily climbed. As the global pandemic came along in 2020, digital health solutions were not simply an enhancement anymore, but rather a necessity in healthcare access and delivery.
Limited Diversity in Genomic Datasets May Impact Cancer Outcomes – Lack of representation of minority groups in genomic datasets could affect cancer outcomes and therapy selection.
Dr. Eric Topol on variants, vaccines and AstraZeneca’s data reporting

Publications

News for the month of February 2021

February brought on an interesting series of SPACs in the genomics sector – if you are not familiar with this term, it means Special Purpose Acquisition Company which translates into a company going public via a merger. 23andMe, Nautilus Biotechnology, and Sema4 all went public via a SPAC. 23andMe merged with Virgin Groups VG Acquisition Corp [the business combination values 23andMe at an enterprise value of ~$3.5B], Nautilus Biotechnology merged with Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp III [the combined company is expected to receive proceeds of approximately $350M at the closing of the transaction], while Sema4 combined with CM Life Sciences [the combined company is expected to receive proceeds of up to ~$793M at the closing of the transaction, up to $343M of which will be paid to Sema4 stockholders and the remainder of which will be utilized by Sema4 for its business to be operated under the same Sema4 management team].

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Pacific Biosciences Sequel II Systems Deployed to Scale-Up Global Viral Surveillance Initiatives Focused on COVID-19
Backed by Google, epidemiologists launch a sweeping Covid-19 data platform
7 Virus Variants Found in U.S. Carrying the Same Mutation Scientists don’t know yet whether the mutation makes the variants more contagious, but they are concerned that it might.
INSIGHT: A population-scale COVID-19 testing strategy combining point-of-care diagnosis with centralized high-throughput sequencing New COVID-19 testing strategy (INSIGHT) uses barcoded isothermal NASBA reaction to combine NGS and point-of-care diagnosis to hopefully achieve population-scale testing.
Could mixing COVID vaccines boost immune response? Researchers in the United Kingdom have launched a study that will mix and match two COVID-19 vaccines in a bid to ease the daunting logistics of immunizing millions of people — and potentially boost immune responses in the process.
Myths of Vaccine Manufacturing Derek Lowe talks about why it is impossible to suddenly unleash dozens of companies to crank out the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines – mostly due a lack of knowledge about what these vaccines are & how they’re produced.

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

QIAGEN announces Digital Partner Program with five initial partnerships
As All of Us moves to diversify medicine, its tech partners push to democratize research Talks about Terra, an open-source system worked on by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard , which has currently more than 15,000 users (including the All of Us Research Program with Researcher Workbench) . In January the platform announced a multiyear partnership with Microsoft but will also be available on the Google Cloud.
Leading Health Providers Unite to Advance Patient Care by Forming Truveta Leading health providers have come together in unprecedented fashion to unite around the goal of improving the lives of those they serve through data insights. Through structuring, normalizing, and de-identifying data from these health providers, a new data platform will be built, with careful protection of patient privacy and security. This new platform, using the power of AI and machine learning, will enable unprecedented insights as providers are able to learn from each other with statistically significant scale and representation of diverse populations.
Stanford Medicine launches in-house service for whole genome sequencing
H3 Biomedicine Partners with Flatiron Health, Foundation Medicine for Cancer Drug Research
NIH’s TOPMed program publishes data on over 53,000 diverse genomes
SOPHiA GENETICS and the Spanish Lung Cancer Group Team Up to Explore the Predictive Potential of Multimodal Health Data in Resectable Stage IIIA Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Is Precision Medicine Ready For Data From Billions Of Cells?
Parexel and NeoGenomics Announce Strategic Collaboration in Precision Medicine to Improve Study Designs and Accelerate Patient Matching in Oncology Clinical Trials
Scripps Research collaborates with Tempus to develop a predictive model of glucose responses
Intermountain Healthcare Discussing World’s Largest Pediatric DNA Mapping Effort Intermountain Healthcare launches HerediGene: Children’s Study | will involve the voluntary collection of 50,000 DNA samples of children as young as newborns, as well as their parents and siblings who wish to participate.
ASCO names molecular profiling of gastrointestinal cancer ‘Advance of the Year’ acknowledging improvements in treatment that have resulted from molecular testing of patients’ tumors.

Genomic / Genetic Testing

Tempus Launches Hereditary Cancer Germline Assay, xG This new germline sequencing assay, xG, a 52-gene panel identifies genetic variants associated with hereditary cancer syndromes and inherited risk of cancer.

NGS / Genomics Platforms

Resolve Biosciences Announces Initial Results from Early Access Collaborations with Scientists Leading the Next Generation of Subcellular Spatial Analysis
Natera and Personalis Partner for Personalized Monitoring in Oncology
Twist Bioscience and Berry Genomics to Offer New NGS Solution to Advance Research and Precision Medicine
NanoString Announces the Launch of the Whole Transcriptome Atlas with Data to be Presented at the Third Annual Spatial Genomics Summit on February 23, 202
GenapSys Names Jason Myers CEO Myers currently serves as a member of the management team and a Director at Invitae, where he leads oncology strategy development. He joined Invitae in 2020 upon the acquisition of ArcherDX, a company he founded and led as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Liquid Biopsy

New Study from Foundation Medicine and Collaborators Further Demonstrates the Clinical Utility of Blood-Based Comprehensive Genomic Profiling in Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Scientists publish a blueprint to apply artificial intelligence to extend human longevity
How AI-Generated Synthetic Genomes May Improve Privacy Generative models and AGs have the potential to become valuable assets in genetic studies by providing a rich yet compact representation of existing genomes and high-quality, easy-access and anonymous alternatives for private databases.

Immunotherapy

New CAR-T for Aggressive B-Cell Lymphoma Wins FDA Nod

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

How CRISPR might help diagnose and halt dangerous outbreaks faster

Miscellaneous

Pfizer Selects Seven Bridges to Support RNA Sequencing Data
20-year anniversary of publications reporting the draft human genome sequence
GenomePaint: Interactive Visualization of the Genome GenomePaint is a web-based, interactive visualization platform for whole-genome, whole-exome, transcriptome, epigenome and 3D-genome architecture of tumor samples. Its use, outlined in the Cancer Cell paper (10.1016/j.ccell.2020.12.011), captures the inter-relatedness between DNA variations and RNA expression, supporting in-depth exploration of both individual cancer genomes and full cohorts
Steve Ballmer says he wishes Microsoft had entered cloud computing market earlier “I wish we probably started a year or so, two years earlier. We started actually with PaaS instead of infrastructure as a service. Probably we would do that a little bit differently. It cost us a little bit of time in the eventual battle, if you will, with AWS.”
Pfizer and IDA Foundation Partner to Expand Access to Essential Cancer Treatments
HDL Cholesterol Linked to Parkinson’s Disease Population study shows relationships between HDL levels and variability with incident PD
Why Exosomes Are Being Explored as Diagnostic and Therapeutic Tools With an extensive list of biological functions, including high biological stability, intercellular messengers, among others, exosomes are becoming more widely used as biomarkers in liquid biopsies and drug delivery vehicles.
Google Fit will soon use smartphone cameras to log heart rate and respiratory rate The new wellness features use machine learning to observe subtle changes in chest movement or blood coloration, and are slated to drop for #Pixeldevice users in the next month.
Illumina and Sequoia Capital China Partner to Launch Genomics Incubator in China The company creation engine will focus on building life sciences startup companies advancing breakthrough applications in genomics.
Illumina co-founder Mark Chee moves from the genome to the proteome with upstart Encodia

Publication

Whole genome sequencing in the Middle Eastern Qatari population identifies genetic associations with 45 clinically relevant traits
Identification of resistance pathways and therapeutic targets in relapsed multiple myeloma patients through single-cell sequencing Study defines a roadmap for integrating scRNA-seq in clinical trials, identifies a signature of highly resistant MM patients and discovers PPIA as a potent therapeutic target for these tumors.
New immunotherapy target discovered for malignant brain tumors
Large-scale study finds genetic testing technology falsely detects very rare variants
Systematic detection of brain protein-coding genes under positive selection during primate evolution and their roles in cognition
LincRNA-immunity landscape analysis identifies EPIC1 as a regulator of tumor immune evasion and immunotherapy resistance
How dark matter of the genome interacts with mitochondria—and affects the fate of cancer
Dynamics of RNA–protein interactions studied in living cells
Sequencing of 53,831 diverse genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed Program
Opposing immune and genetic mechanisms shape oncogenic programs in synovial sarcoma First peer-reviewed study using GeoMx DSP with next generation sequencing readout.
Biallelic loss-of-function in NRAP is a cause of recessive dilated cardiomyopathy
Long Noncoding RNA JAKMIP2-AS1 Promotes the Growth of Colorectal Cancer and Indicates Poor Prognosis
Intranasal influenza vaccine spurs strong immune response in Phase 1 study
Sixteen novel lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa Researchers analyzed 1,365 genomes and identified 16 new lineages of SARS-CoV-2 containing unique mutations. They found the most widespread C lineage in South Africa had 16 new nucleotide mutations compared to the original sequence.

News for the month of January 2021

During the month of January, attention was primarily directed towards the new SARS-CoV-2 variants (especially the ones that emerged from the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil). We’ve learned that these new variants have been more transmissible compared to the original virus, resulting in greater danger of risk of higher numbers in hospitalizations and deaths. In hopes of expanding the country’s surveillance to detect and characterize emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 Illumina and Helix started a collaboration to augment national surveillance infrastructure, while Quest Diagnostics was granted a CDC contract to sequence COVID-19 gene variants to identify new mutations and patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Other notable developments include announcements that took place during the JP Morgan Healthcare conference, such as the multi-year PacBio-Invitae collaboration to develop a production-scale, high-throughput clinical whole genome sequencing platform leveraging the power of PacBio’s HiFi sequencing technology, as well as Illumina’s launch of Illumina Connected Analytics (ICA), a cloud-based platform for multi-omics data exploration, coupled with machine learning, and tertiary analysis tools which harnesses the DRAGEN Bio-IT Platform (acquired in 2018) and BlueBee technology (acquired in 2020).

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

UAB-developed research tool will help scientists better understand COVID-19 PAGER-CoV is a database packed with nearly 12,000 (so far) pieces of genetic information on the SARS-CoV-2 virus
UK to share genomics expertise to identify COVID-19 variants A New Variant Assessment Platform will open up Britain’s genomics laboratories and offer advice and resources to other countries in need.
UK chief scientist says new virus variant may be more deadly
In a major setback, Merck to stop developing its two Covid-19 vaccines and focus on therapies citing inadequate immune responses to the shots. Work will continue on at least one of the vaccines, which is being developed in partnership with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), to see if using a different route of administration would improve how effective it is.
Quest Diagnostics Granted CDC Contract to Sequence COVID-19 Gene Variants to Aid Public Health Response to COVID-19 Large-scale longitudinal genomic survey of the SARS-CoV-2 virus using a random set of samples collected will be performed to understand viral variants and to mobilize an effective response to COVID-19.
What we now know — and don’t know — about the coronavirus variants It is suggested that the virus variant dubbed B.1.1.7, came from a person who was immunocompromised and had a rare chronic case, essentially providing an incubator for the virus to accrue mutations as it replicated for weeks or months in that person’s body. The virus, the hypothesis goes, then spread from that person to others.
Illumina and Helix Collaborate to Assess Prevalence of New SARS-CoV-2 UK Variant (B.1.1.7) in the US and Develop National Surveillance Infrastructure

For more in-depth reading, our compiled COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 news page lists selected coronavirus/COVID-19 news.

Funding

Split Biosciences, now Parse Biosciences, Announces $7M in Series A Funding to Democratize Single-Cell RNA Sequencing
Dante Labs £30M investment in Cambridge will support global COVID-19 sequencing surveillance program The £30M investment in the UK will be used to run a global surveillance programme of the new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, starting with a hardware and analytical capacity of 50,000 RNA samples per week.
Sano Genetics, a startup helping with Long COVID research, raises £2.5M in seed funding with a broad mission to support personalised medicine research by increasing participation in clinical trials.
Devyser receives Eurostars grant to develop novel DNA test for early detection of transplant rejection
Two Cancer Companies Close Series A Rounds Netting $144 Million
Elucida Oncology Closes $44 Million Series A-1 Financing
Delfi Diagnostics Announces $100 Million Series A Financing to Develop a New Class of Early Detection Liquid Biopsy for Multiple Cancers
NuProbe Closes $42M Fundraising
Color raises $167 million funding at $1.5 billion valuation to expand ‘last mile’ of US health infrastructure
Carrum Health Raises $40 Million to Transform Healthcare Delivery and Lower Costs through First-of-Its-Kind Digital Marketplace

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships

Precision Medicine

Let’s talk about the ‘G’ word CEO of Genomics England, Chris Wigley, tells the importance to talk to as many people as possible about genomics which is why they have started a new podcast. ‘Genomics’ is a word that can trigger really strong responses: hope; fear; anger; other responses.
Genuity Science and Emory University Announce Research Agreement to further the development of the Genuity Science population clinicogenomic database.
Janet Woodcock, MD, Appointed Acting FDA Director
BC Platforms, RIKEN and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) collaborate on artificial intelligence approach to identify people most at risk of from COVID-19

Genomic / Genetic Testing

OncoDNA announces expansion of its services into the United States
Ancestry deepens focus on Family History; will discontinue AncestryHealth as per their blog
Leading Biopharmaceutical Companies Select Invitae to Develop Standardized Panel to Detect Molecular Residual Disease (MRD) in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
Tempus Announces Companion Diagnostic Collaboration With A2 Biotherapeutics
Helix® Laboratory Platform Granted the First and Only FDA Authorization for a Whole Exome Sequencing Platform This marks the first time such a broad, sequencing-based device has been authorized by the FDA.
Invitae Reports Preliminary 2020 Financial Results of More Than $278 Million in Revenue and More Than 655,000 in Billable Volume

NGS / Genomics Platforms

Technology could upend DNA sequencing for diagnosing certain DNA mutations New technique combines dPCR with high-speed atomic force microscopy (HSAFM) to create an image with such nanoscale resolution which allow the measurement of differences in the lengths of genes within a DNA sequence. These variations in gene length, known as polymorphisms, can be key to accurately diagnosing many forms of cancer and neurological diseases.
BIORON and GENAPSYS start cooperation in Germany to offer new DNA-sequencing technology
Oxford Nanopore’s Gene-Sequencing Is Helping the Global Battle Against Covid. It’s Now Considering an IPO
Pacific Biosciences and Invitae to Develop Ultra-High-Throughput Clinical Whole Genome Sequencing Platform
Illumina to Offer New Bioinformatics Solution Which Powers Multi-Omics Discovery at Massive Scale This new and integrated bioinformatics solution Illumina Connected Analytics Software provides a private, cloud-based data platform to manage, analyze, and explore large volumes of multi-omic data in a secure, scalable, and flexible environment.

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

MIT’s oncological risk AI calculates cancer chances regardless of race It was trained and validated on datasets from the US, Europe and Asia.

Microbiome

Transnetyx, One Codex Build Strategic Partnership to Provide a Complete Microbiome Analysis Service for Both Mice and Humans

Miscellaneous

Two ways Fitbit could boost Google’s health ambitions
Sharon Begley, path-breaking science journalist who spun words into gold, dies at 64
President-elect Biden Announces Key Members of his White House Science Team includes Dr. Eric Lander as the Presidential Science Advisor-designate and nominee for Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Dr. Francis Collins who will continue in his role as Director of the National Institutes of Health.
QIAGEN Announces Global Distribution Agreement for the COSMIC Database from the Wellcome Sanger Institute
Strata Oncology Announces Personalized Recurrence Monitoring Trial Study to Evaluate Strata’s Ability to Detect Tumor Recurrence using Liquid Biopsy and Monitor Treatment Effectiveness for Patients with Early-Stage Solid Tumors
Haven, the Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan venture to disrupt health care, is disbanding after 3 years The move to shutter Haven may be a sign of how difficult it is to radically improve American health care, a complicated and entrenched system of doctors, insurers, drugmakers and middlemen that costs the country $3.5 trillion every year.

Publications

Genome-wide association analyses of post-traumatic stress disorder and its symptom subdomains in the Million Veteran Program
Systematic analysis of binding of transcription factors to noncoding variants
Decoding the multicellular ecosystem of lung adenocarcinoma manifested as pulmonary subsolid nodules by single-cell RNA sequencing
CRISPR-Cas9-mediated pinpoint microbial genome editing aided by target-mismatched sgRNAs New gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 can now allow the selection of cells with DNA structural alterations at single locations
Prospective mapping of viral mutations that escape antibodies used to treat COVID-19 A deeper look into the viral mutations of SARS-CoV-2 and the antibodies being made to fight against it. Researchers have “completely mapped mutations that escape three leading anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies” in current vaccines.
Differences between germline genomes of monozygotic twins
‘Incredible’ gene-editing result in mice inspires plans to treat premature-aging syndrome in children In mice with a progeria-causing mutation, a CRISPR cousin corrected the DNA mutation and prevents the heart damage typical of the disease. Treated mice lived about 500 days, more than twice as long as untreated animals.

Following are archived industry news

Monthly Industry News

News for the month of June 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Liquid Biopsy

CRISPR / Cas9 Genome Editing

Single Cell / Spatial Genomics

Miscellaneous

Publications

News for the month of May 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Genomic / Genetic Testing

Single Cell / Spatial Genomics

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

RWE / RWD

Miscellaneous

Publication

News for the month of April 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

NGS / Genomics Platforms

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Genomic / Genetic Testing

Liquid Biopsy

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Miscellaneous

Publications

News for the month of March 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Spatial Transcriptomics

Real-World Data / Real-World Evidence

Liquid Biopsy

Miscellaneous

Publications

News for the month of February 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Funding

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

Genomic / Genetic Testing

NGS / Genomics Platforms

Liquid Biopsy

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Immunotherapy

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Miscellaneous

Publication

News for the month of January 2021

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Funding

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships

Precision Medicine

Genomic / Genetic Testing

NGS / Genomics Platforms

CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Microbiome

Miscellaneous

Publications

Following are archived industry news

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