Danaher Acquires Genedata to Strengthen Biopharma R&D Software Portfolio

"Genedata is the global market leader in digital R&D processes, helping to accelerate the delivery of life-saving and personalized medicines."," said Othmar Pfannes, the company's founder and CEO, in a statement. "As an operating company of Danaher, Genedata will seek to continue attracting the brightest talent and addressing our customers' toughest challenges worldwide."

"In our trust relationship with Genedata, we have long admired their innovative software systems based on deep scientific expertise," said Greg Milosevich, Vice President and Group Executive of Danaher's DH Life Sciences subsidiary, in a statement. "Together, we are committed to supporting biopharmaceutical companies by providing innovative solutions that help researchers gain high-quality insights, thereby accelerating the development of urgently needed therapies."

In June 2020, Illumina acquired the Dutch informatics company BlueBee., enhancing its cloud-based genomic analysis capabilities. Illumina stated in a press release that BlueBee’s regulatory-compliant secure cloud platform simplifies data access and may help reduce the costs of storing, sharing, and managing large volumes of genomic data generated by Illumina sequencers. The financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Illumina's Senior Vice President of Product Development, Susan Tousi, stated in a release: "Combining BlueBee with Illumina’s software offerings provides the most scalable, efficient, and extensible genomic analysis solution for clinical and translational research use cases. BlueBee indeed brings unique capabilities while ensuring the secure deployment of clinical informatics on a global scale. Together, we aim to deliver an unprecedented learning environment to unlock the full potential of genomic insights." BlueBee, a spin-off from Delft University of Technology, has established numerous partnerships with genomic tool and assay developers, integrating bioinformatics pipelines and data analytics into its platform. The company raised $10 million in Series A funding in 2016. Illumina noted that integrating BlueBee into its cloud portfolio, which already includes BaseSpace Sequence Hub, will allow users to access streamlined data processing; tools for aggregating and collaboratively analyzing data; data science tools; and integrated business analytics. BlueBee’s platform can be deployed both on-premises and in the cloud.

IDT President Trey Martin said in a statement: "This combination can drive the entire global genomics ecosystem forward through a robust and scalable architecture, thereby supporting customers' ability to expand analytical insights globally. IDT has previously collaborated with Illumina and BlueBee."

In July 2021, Immunai acquired Swiss bioinformatics company Nebion.New York City- and Tel Aviv-based Immunai said the acquisition will allow it to expand its target discovery and drug development capabilities, while Nebion's experience in managing public gene expression datasets will help Immunai develop its Annotated Multi-Omics Immune Cell Atlas (AMICA). "As with other machine learning efforts like autonomous driving or NLP, having the right data is key," Immunai CEO and co-founder Noam Solomon said in a statement. "We are excited to bring in the Nebion team and their platform to enhance our target discovery and validation capabilities." This acquisition follows Immunai's purchase of software company Dropprint Genomics in March. Immunai’s platform analyzes immune cells through a combination of single-cell RNA-seq, Cellular Indexing of Transcriptomes and Epitopes by Sequencing (CITE-seq), VDJ-seq, and other methods. The company uses these profiles to build its AMICA and applies it to drug and biomarker development. The company also announced several new personnel changes, including the addition of MIT professor Robert Langer to its board; the appointment of former Roche Chief Scientific Officer Jacques Banchereau as Chief Scientific Officer; and the appointment of former Guardant Health Chief User Engagement Officer Mark Jacobstein as Chief Business Officer. "The immune system is at the core of most human diseases, and I believe the combination of multi-omics single-cell data with cutting-edge machine learning will lead to an explosion in drug targets and ultimately approved therapies," Langer said in a statement.

Genedata transforms data into intelligence through innovative software solutions that support large-scale experimental processes in life science research and development. Established in 1997, Genedata provides enterprise solutions for data analysis, streamlining R&D workflows and enhancing productivity. Today, the majority of leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agrochemical companies, as well as innovative life science research institutions, rely on Genedata. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Genedata is driven by its experienced team of scientific, computational, and business experts. With strategically located offices in Europe, the United States, and Asia, Genedata collaborates closely with clients worldwide, offering support when and where they need it. Genedata’s biopharmaceutical platform partners with global leaders in the biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries, incorporating critical domain expertise to deliver innovative, user-friendly solutions that are scalable, open, and aligned with industry processes. Genedata is passionate about helping customers control R&D costs as they develop safe next-generation products and therapies.

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