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.

Sign-Up for our newsletter and never miss out on the latest news and updates.

Check out our News Dashboard with real-time listing of news and articles in genomics, genetics, precision medicine, and beyond.

News for the month of March 2023

Funding / IPO

Swiss Company Lunaphore Raises CHF 40M in the First Close of Series D Funding The company plans to use the funding to strengthen its growing portfolio offering in spatial biology as well as support commercial execution to address ever-growing demand from customers.
Artera Launches with $90 Million in Funding to Personalize Cancer Therapy With Multimodal AI
Pragma Bio Secures $10M To Expand Its Proprietary Technology Platform To Discover Novel Medicines Pragma Bio plans to continue the development of proprietary methods in genomic sequencing, artificial intelligence and synthetic biology to discover biomarkers and novel therapeutics to treat immunologic disorders.
Perspectum, a precision health company which develops medical imaging tools to improve the diagnoses of metabolic diseases and cancer, has completed the second close of its $55 million Series C funding round
Chroma Medicine Secures $135M in Series B Financing to Advance Breakthrough Epigenetic Editing Technology and Expand Pipeline of Durable Precision Genomic Medicines

Mergers & Acquisitions

Genomic/Genetic Testing/CDx/Liquid Biopsy

(Genomics) Data Platform / Sequencing / Analysis / Instruments

World TB Day 2023: Illumina and GenoScreen Launch Next Generation Sequencing Innovation to Eliminate Tuberculosis in Africa
Illumina launches new software to enable tertiary analysis for oncology applications, and soon rare disease Illumina releases Connected Insights, a new cloud-based software enabling tertiary analysis for clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) data.
PacBio and Corteva Agriscience Enable Plant and Microbial Long-Read Sequencing Workflow on Revio System
PacBio Announces a New Informatics Analysis Method for Highly Homologous Genes
SOPHiA GENETICS and Agilent Partner on Comprehensive Solution for Cancer Analysis
New Single-Cell Genome, Transcriptome Sequencing Technique Delivers Better Bang For Buck
Illumina launches its first product enabling long- and short-read sequencing on one instrument
Illumina and Myriad Genetics expand partnership to broaden access to HRD testing in the United States
Dante Genomics launches Avanti Software for a plug-and-play genomic interpretation that takes minutes instead of hours
The Sequencing Buyer’s Guide: 5th Edition A Front Line Genomics Report “From sample preparation workflows and new platform releases to single-cell analysis options and data analysis tools”
QIAGEN and SOPHiA GENETICS Forge Partnership to Combine Strengths in Next-Generation Sequencing

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Miscellaneous

Podcast People of Precision Health Debuts to Explore How Leaders in Precision Health Research are Using Digital Methods and Tools to Successfully Build and Engage Human Cohorts
Digital health CEOs look back with wisdom and ahead with measured optimism Rock Health hosted the 11th annual Digital Health CEO Summit in San Francisco, where they gathered with 120 leading digital health CEOs and founders. They convened for a day full of reflective discussions, shared learnings, and experiences to connect with old and new friends across the industry. This is their summary.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Opens Cell Therapy Facility at University of California, San Francisco, to Accelerate Development of Breakthrough Therapies The partnership between Thermo Fisher and UCSF, first announced in 2021, has the potential to demonstrate that having scientists, clinicians, and patients closer to a manufacturing site may expedite the development of breakthrough treatments.
Biocom California Statement on Illumina’s Proposed Acquisition of GRAIL Biocom California, the association representing the life science industry of California, issued a statement regarding their application to intervene in support of Illumina’s challenge to the European Commission’s jurisdiction over the acquisition of GRAIL
Illumina Underscores Commitment to Shareholder Value and Responds to Carl Icahn’s Statements
Oxford Nanopore and PathoQuest announce the first steps in a strategic collaboration to bring the first GMP-accredited, nanopore-based biologics genetic characterisation test to market
Caris Life Sciences and Incyte Enter Into Broad Precision Medicine Partnership to Advance Incyte’s Oncology Pipeline
German scientists develop a dashboard to ensure transparency for clinical trials Scientists at the BIH QUEST Center have developed a publicly accessible dashboard that displays how 35 German universities fare in terms of transparency of the clinical trials they have conducted. A total of some 3,000 clinical trials were evaluated for this purpose.
A cartography of human histology is in the making It will identify and locate every type of cell in the human body

Silicon Valley Bank

Silicon Valley Bank has a new owner. What it means for the bank crisis
FDIC Creates a Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara to Protect Insured Depositors of Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, California
Silicon Valley Bank failure could wipe out ‘a whole generation of startups
Silicon Valley Bank Fails After Run on Deposits One of the most prominent lenders in the world of technology start-ups, struggling under the weight of ill-fated decisions and panicked customers, collapsed on Friday, forcing the federal government to step in. The move put nearly $175 billion in customer deposits under the regulator’s control. A NY Times article.
Here’s how the second-biggest bank collapse in U.S. history happened in just 48 hours
Silicon Valley Bank is shut down by regulators in biggest bank failure since global financial crisis

Publications

Genomic analyses of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven sheds light on chronic health problems and cause of death
Genetic analyses identify brain structures related to cognitive impairment associated with elevated blood pressure
Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in bloodstream infection regarding immunosuppression mNGS outperforms microbiological tests to diagnose bloodstream infections
Monocyte-derived macrophages contain persistent latent HIV reservoirs HIV genomes that hide in white blood cells offer new target to eliminate infections
Interpreting Incidentally Identified Variants in Genes Associated With Heritable Cardiovascular Disease: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association
Long-read sequencing of diagnosis and post-therapy medulloblastoma reveals complex rearrangement patterns and epigenetic signatures
Palmitoylation of the Parkinson’s disease–associated protein synaptotagmin-11 links its turnover to α-synuclein homeostasis
YBX1-interacting small RNAs and RUNX2 can be blocked in primary bone cancer using CADD522
Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses improve resolution of genes and pathways influencing lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk New genetic associations found for COPD in the largest study of its kind – the study, which included 580,869 participants, identified 1,020 independent disease association signals and implicated 559 genes from a variant-to-gene mapping framework
Multivariate genome-wide association meta-analysis of over 1 million subjects identifies loci underlying multiple substance use disorders The study’s findings are drawn from an analysis of genomic data from more than 1.1 million people of mostly European ancestry and a smaller population of people of African ancestry
Decreased viral infection severity in females may be due to extra copy of X chromosome-linked gene
Engineering epigenetic inheritance
Discovery of Targets for Immune–Metabolic Antitumor Drugs Identifies Estrogen-Related Receptor Alpha

News for the month of February 2023

Funding & IPO

GE HealthCare agrees to buy AI imaging firm Caption Health in second acquisition GE HealthCare plans to pair its ultrasound machines with Caption’s applications for early disease detection.
Will it? Won’t It? CVS Health To Finally Acquire Oak Street Health for $10.6B – The full Investor presentation: Creating the Premier Medicare Value-Based Platform

Precision / Genomic Medicine

Precision Medicine: Are We Seeing More Rigorous Papers, With More Reasonable Claims?
SOPHiA GENETICS Expands Partnership With AstraZeneca to Include Multimodal Approaches for Cancer Drug Development The expanded partnership aims to leverage the global SOPHiA DDM™ platform and multimodal algorithmic capabilities to lead a new era of precision oncology by improving early patient identification and diagnosis, optimizing clinical development, and accelerating adoption of innovative medications along the care pathwa
How many babies die from genetic diseases because they’re not tested? Too many, researchers say Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine (RCIGM) researchers found that the contribution of genetic diseases to infant deaths was higher than previously recognized. Of 112 infant deaths evaluated, single-locus (Mendelian) genetic diseases were found to be the most common antecedent of infant mortality and associated with 41% of the deaths – Article in JAMA Network Open: Reclassification of the Etiology of Infant Mortality With Whole-Genome Sequencing
Ireland Outlines National Strategy to Streamline Access to Genomic Medicine

(Genomics) Data Platform / Analysis / Instruments

Element to Present Data and Innovation Roadmap at AGBT As per their press release: With its new Cloudbreak chemistry coming in April, Element is accelerating the power of sequencing with 20 percent faster runs and a simplified workflow with Elevate linear libraries, all with superior accuracy at the industry’s lowest cost. Element provides the highest quality sequencing on a benchtop for as low as $200 a genome, or $2 per gigabase.

(Genomics) Data Platform / Analysis / Instruments

Illumina delivers first NovaSeq X Plus sequencer to the Broad Institute
Tecan collaborates with Singular Genomics to take automated NGS library preparation into the future (AGBT)
Tecan collaborates with Element Biosciences to provide benchtop NGS (AGBT)
Complete Genomics Drops Genome Sequencing Price to Sub $100 at AGBT General Meeting (AGBT) The new instrument represents a T-series product evolution designed for large population genome projects. Using an open-type large sequencing slide cut from a whole silicon wafer, one DNBSEQ-T20×2 supports the operation of 6 slides simultaneously, producing up to 42Tb per run with PE100 or even 72Tb per run with PE150 in a smaller footprint than DNBSEQ-T10×4*.
Arima Genomics and Velsera Announce Partnership to Enable Broad Adoption of Arima Gene Fusion Test in Clinical Laboratories

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

Predicting physician departure with machine learning on EHR use patterns: A longitudinal cohort from a large multi-specialty ambulatory practice Machine learning model predicts physician turnover

RWE / RWD

Veradigm and HealthVerity Collaborate to Advance Real-World Evidence and Care for Patients with Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes

Miscellaneous

Layoffs and Shutdowns Hit Biotech Industry in U-Turn After years of easy money and heady growth, funding is slim and stocks are down
Roche expands collaboration with Janssen to advance personalized healthcare through companion diagnostics
Eurofins Genomics US Launches Express Oxford Nanopore Sequencing Service with Same-Day Results
Data interoperability at the federal level requires cross-sector collaboratio n During a panel discussion at Digital Frontiers in Public Health, panelists discussed how the public and private sectors can work together to share data and improve public health.
GoodRx Leaked User Health Data to Facebook and Google, F.T.C. Says The popular drug discount app deceptively shared details on users’ illnesses and medicines with ad firms, regulators said in a legal complaint.

COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2

Biden’s plan for ending the emergency declaration for COVID-19 signals a pivotal point in the pandemic – 4 questions answered
Genetics might explain why some people have never had COVID – but we shouldn’t be too focused on finding out
White House plans to end COVID emergency declarations May 11 An average of more than 500 people in the U.S. are still dying from COVID-19 each day, about twice the number of deaths per day during a bad flu season.
The NIH-led research response to COVID-19 Outlines key milestones and crucial lessons learned, with the goal of informing and guiding the research community’s response to future pandemics.

Publications

News for the month of January 2023

January started off with the 41st edition of the annual JP Morgan Healthcare conference which typically provides a rich source of news across the healthcare sector, including updates on mergers and acquisitions. This year we learned about the formation of Velsera as a result of combining Seven Bridges with PierianDx and Urgentec. Velsera’s goal is to create a software platform out of science, technology, and informatics, making data actionable, accelerating the pace and including the potential of multi-omics. A more detailed summary of newsworthy activities in the various therapeutic areas can be found in Insights and Key Takeaways of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Another not too surprising highlight included Nature Methods calling long-read sequencing the Method of the year 2022, this after the success of the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium presenting the first ever complete human genome using long-read sequencing. The two most widely used commercial technologies are Pacific Biosciences’ Single Molecule Real-Time (SMRT) sequencing (average read length ~20 kb with >99.9% accuracy for HiFi reads) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ nanopore sequencing (average read length ~100 kb for ultra-long reads, ~99% accuracy for R10.4).

Additional news included Alphabet’s Verily announcing layoffs amid strategic restructuring, Sema4 Announcing name change to GeneDx, and the launch of the clinical trial company Paradigm with $203M in funding to build a clinical research platform for provider and pharma customers.

Funding & IPO

Levels Secures $7M Series A Extension Funding
Teal unwraps $8.8M to build out a telehealth platform for women — starting with cervical cancer screening
Clinical trial tech company Paradigm launches with $203M in funding Paradigm will use the money to build a clinical research platform for provider and biopharmaceutical customers.
Atomic AI Launches with $35 Million Series A Financing to Advance AI-driven RNA Structure Platform for Treating Undruggable Diseases
Eagle Genomics’ Scale-Up Funding from OMRON Ventures to Drive Sustainability Innovation in Microbiome R&D The funds will support the ongoing development of Eagle Genomics’ e[datascientist]^™ platform as well as continued global expansion and increased client impact
Perspectum Completes $36 Million First Close of Series C
LinusBio Raises $16 Million to Scale Growth and Deliver Tangible Outcomes
BIOHM Raises $7.5 Million to Accelerate Microbiome Research, Artificial Intelligence Capabilities and Product Development
CRISPR QC Closes Seed Round at $1.6M to Fuel Commercial Growth of Their CRISPR Analytics Platform
Nest Genomics Raises $8.5M in Seed Funding to Increase Access to Patients’ Genetic Information Nest Genomics provides the software infrastructure needed for health systems, clinics, drugmakers and payers to launch and scale genomic programs
Agilent Investing $725 Million to Expand State-of-the-Art Manufacturing Capacity for Production of Nucleic Acid-Based Therapeutics

Mergers & Acquisitions

Precision Medicine

Accelerating cancer omics and precision oncology in health care and research: a Lancet Oncology Commission
UK landmark genomic partnership with Thailand to unite against health threats UK signs memorandum of understanding with Thailand to boost genomics expertise and explore mutual priorities for improving patient outcomes.
The human genome needs updating. But how do we make it fair? Healthcare’s standard genome is mostly based on one American. As we enter the era of personalised medicine, this bias has drawbacks for much of the world’s population
All of Us Seeks Proposals to Support Future Participant Experience The All of Us Research Program is looking for innovative solutions that will amplify the strengths of the program, provide the next generation of their platform to evolve their capabilities, and meet the needs of their program partners and participants.
BC Platforms Selected as Partner to Deliver key Singapore Population Health Study

(Genomics) Data Platform / Analysis / Instruments

Method of the Year 2022: long-read sequencing Nature Methods calls long-read sequencing the Method of the year 2022 and this on the heel of the success of the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium which presented the first complete human genome. This achievement was made possible by a wide range of experimental and computational efforts. Among them was long-read sequencing, the main sequencing technology responsible for generating the T2T data, which arguably laid the foundation of this feat.
Complete Genomics Launches Full Sequencing Platforms at Biotech Showcase™ 2023 at JP Morgan 2023
Element Delivers $200 Genome on AVITI™ Benchtop Sequencing System, or $2 per gigabase. For single cell sequencing, the new model offers potential costs as low as $0.60 per million reads, with sequencing runs finishing in less than 24 hours

Genomic/Genetic Testing/CDx/Liquid Biopsy

Guardant Health introduces Guardant Galaxy^TM suite of advanced AI analytics to enhance its portfolio of cancer tests and accelerate biomarker discovery
50% Not Tested: Precision Oncology with Jerome Madison, Invitae A Mendelspod podcast with Jerome Madison (General Manager of Oncology at Invitae) discussing Invitae’s approach to addressing the opportunities and challenges of cancer genetic testing.
QIAGEN and Helix Launch Exclusive Partnership to Advance Next-Generation Sequencing Companion Diagnostics in Hereditary Diseases

CRISPR / Cas9

Crispr Wants to Feed the World The power to fight human diseases put genome editing on the map. But similar technology could help crops withstand the stress of climate change.

Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

A.I. Turns Its Artistry to Creating New Human Proteins Inspired by digital art generators like DALL-E, biologists are building artificial intelligences that can fight cancer, flu and Covid.
Top Artificial Intelligence Companies In Healthcare To Keep An Eye On Includes Google Health/DeepMind, Augmedix, CloudMedX Health, Babylon Health, Enlitic, Arterys, Atomwise, Recursion Pharmaceuticls, iCarbonX, and Deep Genomics.
Microsoft is making a strategic investment in Paige, which is leveraging AI for cancer diagnostics and treatment Paige will also use Microsoft Azure as its cloud provider for the Paige Platform.
Google Research and DeepMind develop AI medical chatbot with a large language model for the medical community, which could generate safe and helpful answers using datasets covering professional medical exams, research and consumer queries.

Miscellaneous

Former Oracle exec Troy Tazbaz tapped as FDA director of digital health
Amazon Launches $5 A Month Prescription Drug Scheme As It Leaps Further Into Healthcare RxPass will allow U.S. Prime members to fill as many prescriptions as they need from a list of more than 50 generic medications and have them delivered free of charge.
ASHG releases report: Facing our History – Building an Equitable Future Initiative This report is the product of a major year-long initiative to acknowledge and reckon with past injustice, as well as progress toward justice, within the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) and the broader human genetics field. The Society for its involvement in and silence on the misuse of human genetics research to justify and contribute to injustices in all forms. It commits to sustain and expand its integration of equitable and just principles in the study and use of human genetics research, taking both immediate actions and swiftly determining longer-term goals it will set to realize the benefits of human genetics and genomics research for all.
Alphabet’s Verily announces layoffs amid strategic restructuring The layoffs will help Verily refine its strategy, prioritize its product portfolio and simplify its operating model.
UCSF Health received fewer patient portal messages after letting clinicians choose when to charge
Pfizer pivots from early-stage rare disease R&D, shifting to external innovation and putting assets up for sale
Genomic Medicine Translational Protocols – What Do They Mean for Patients Everywhere?
What the FDA’s accelerated approval of a new Alzheimer’s drug could mean for those with the disease – 5 questions answered about lecanemab Potentially Iecanemab could be a game changer for people with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, as the medication has the potential to interfere with the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by removing beta-amyloid from the brains of people who are suffering with it
Sema4 Announces Name Change to GeneDx and Provides Preliminary 2022 Financial Results and 2023 Guidance
Digging Deep to Release the Power of the Proteome
CVS Health Makes Waves During JPM: Experts Weigh In CVS Health announced investments this week in Carbon Health, Monogram Health and Array Behavioral Care. There have also been rumors that the company is exploring a $10 billion deal with primary care company Oak Street Health.