Roche has acquired Bina Technologies, a privately held company based in Redwood City, Calif. Bina provides a big data platform for centralized management and processing of next generation sequencing (NGS) data. Bina's proprietary on-market Genomic Management Solution, Bina-GMS, empowers basic, translational and academic researchers to perform fast and scalable analyses to maximize the value of genomic data.
"The acquisition of Bina is a significant step for Roche to enable the promise of personalized healthcare by delivering the highest quality genomic data possible," said Dan Zabrowski, head of Roche Sequencing. "Informatics and data management are critical to providing a seamless, end-to-end sequencing solution. Bina's products are designed to improve the efficiency and value of genomic analysis, and the company continues to develop new methodologies and algorithms that link NGS data to disease-relevant genetic markers."
Bina's proprietary Genomic Management Solution, the Bina-GMS, is expected to dramatically improve the speed and cost of genomic analyses. Bina recently announced selection of their platform by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide whole genome, whole exome and SNP Chip DNA data analysis as part of the VA's Million Veteran Program (MVP), which aims to enroll one million veterans. The acquisition by Roche will enable Bina to further expand support to similar big-data population studies, as well as grow their offering for global enterprise and clinical research customers.
The acquisition by Roche will enable Bina to accelerate product development and global commercialization of the Bina-GMS as an enterprise software system supporting multiple sequencing technologies while developing a solution for Roche sequencing systems. Roche also will continue to grow Bina's unique interdisciplinary team of bioinformatics scientists, computer scientists and software engineers.
Bina will be integrated into Roche Sequencing Unit in Q1 2015 and will continue to focus on expanding its innovative genomic analysis solutions portfolio.
