Company Holds Largest IP Portfolio Encompassing Processor-Based Analysis of Next-Generation Sequencing Data
SAN DIEGO, March 20, 2017 – Edico Genome, creator of the world’s first processor designed to analyze next-generation sequencing data, today announced the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued an additional five, foundational patents surrounding the DRAGEN™ platform for analysis and storage of genomic data. Edico’s intellectual property portfolio now contains eight issued patents, which provide protection up to 2033. An additional sixteen patents are pending.
All issued patents broadly cover the technology core to DRAGEN, including execution of sequence analysis pipelines and storage for genomic data on the hardware processing platform and providing for both onsite and cloud deployment. The patents cover any type of processor, including application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), graphical processing units (GPUs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which are utilized by Edico’s highly reconfigurable DRAGEN processor. Entitled “Bioinformatics Systems, Apparatuses, And Methods Executed On An Integrated Circuit Processing Platform,” the patent numbers are as follows: 9,576,104; 9,576,103; 9,529,967; 9,519,752; and 9,483,610. Numbers for previously announced U.S. patents are as follows: 9,342,652; 9,235,680 and 9,014,989.
“Our robust and growing intellectual property portfolio surrounding DRAGEN reflects the innovation of our company. DRAGEN is a cutting-edge, unique solution for the big data bottleneck that slows clinical and research applications of genomics,” said Pieter van Rooyen, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Edico Genome. “Edico remains committed to delivering innovative, best-in-class infrastructure for researchers, companies and clinicians working in genomics that accelerates the industry’s maturation from data to diagnosis.”
The DRAGEN end-to-end platform is an ultra-rapid, fully automated solution for analysis of next-generation sequencing data both onsite and in the cloud. Powered by FPGA-centric technology that features optimized algorithms for mapping, alignment, sorting, variant calling and more, DRAGEN enables a whole genome to be analyzed in only 20 minutes onsite, or even under 10 minutes in a single cloud instance, while maintaining high accuracy and significantly lowering costs. DRAGEN also features hyper-efficient lossless, real-time compression of data files, reducing genomic data footprint and long-term storage costs significantly.
Multiple end-to-end, clinical-grade pipelines are available from Edico, including genome/exome, cancer, transcriptome/RNA-seq, structural variant, copy number variant, epigenome/methyl-seq, metagenome/microbiome, joint genotyping and third-party pipelines such as GATK 3.6. The platform is flexible and allows for customization of algorithms and existing pipelines. This system is managed through the browser-based DRAGEN portal, which features an easy-to-use, “drag and drop” interface, or fully parameterizable command line scripting. Best-in-class solutions for onsite, cloud or hybrid cloud analysis have been created through partnerships with top technology companies, including Intel, IBM, Dell EMC, and Amazon Web Services.
To date Edico’s customers have processed more than ten petabytes of data using DRAGEN for a range of activities, including processing of whole genomes, exomes or analyzing 3D genome structures.