Complete Genomics Partners with Inova Health System to Sequence the Genomes of 500 Infants and Their Parents

(Mountain View, CA, USA), a human genome sequencing company, and Inova Health System (Falls Church, VA, USA), a not-for-profit healthcare system, announced additional details about their partnership to sequence 1,500 genomes from 500 infants and their parents. The goal of this project is to identify prognostic, diagnostic, and therapeutic targets for pre-term delivery and potentially other obstetrics-associated abnormalities.

This project was first announced during Complete Genomics’ Q2 earnings call on August 4, 2011. This partnership is part of a pilot program with the Inova Translational Medicine Institute (ITMI), a not-for-profit research institute within the Inova Health System geared at translating clinical research into actual care programs using genomically driven patient care, frequently referred to as personalized medicine.

“Complete Genomics is a natural choice as our sequencing partner for this new program,” said John Niederhuber, CEO, Inova Translational Medicine Institute. “We are confident that Complete Genomics can manage a large project of this type efficiently and produce the consistent, high-quality sequencing data that we need to be able to understand the subtle genetic changes that contribute to pre-term delivery.”

“The Inova Translational Medicine Institute is truly an innovator in the delivery of patient care, striving to not only understand the genomic makeup of patients, but also to customize care to the individual to help prevent or manage their diseases,” said Dr. Clifford Reid, chairman, president and CEO of Complete Genomics. “We view this as an important opportunity for our sequencing service to potentially help create new treatment options for some of the smallest and sickest patients in the hospital.”

ITMI has already begun collecting DNA samples for Complete Genomics to begin sequencing in September. Complete Genomics will begin delivering variant reports to ITMI as early as Q4 and expects to complete most of the 1,500 genomes in the first quarter of 2012. These results will detail how the genomes of pre-term delivery babies from Inova Fairfax Hospital’s Joint Commission-certified neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) compare with reference genomes. They will include data about the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions/deletions, copy number variations, and structural variations included in each DNA sample, together with the read alignments supporting those calls, coverage information and quality scores. In addition to sequence-based data, ITMI will also generate epigenomic, expression, and micro-RNA data on each sample. Data from Inova Health System's electronic medical record system will support ITMI’s outcomes-based research.

Complete Genomics is a human genome sequencing company that has developed and commercialized an innovative DNA sequencing platform. The Complete Genomics Analysis Platform (CGA Platform) combines Complete Genomics’ proprietary human genome sequencing technology with advanced informatics and data management software. This solution is offered as an, outsourced service, CGA Service, and provides customers with data that is immediately ready to be used for genome-based research.

Related Links:
Complete Genomics
Inova Health System
Inova Translational Medicine Institute