In the second post in my Blockchain Genomics series I ask EncrypGen’s CEO David Koepsell about his company and how it fits into the competitive space. Unlike Luna DNA, they aren’t shying away from crytocurrency, proudly boasting that they have the best token name: $DNA. Read on to hear more about their thoughts on this...
Every so often someone will ask about the various “generations” of DNA sequencing or a company will claim to have the latest generation – 3rd, 4th, even “last”. (Hey, Genia, if you don’t come out with something soon, I’m going to start calling your platform “late” generation sequencing – as in “late to the party”...
For my first entry in a series on “blockchain genomics” companies (see previous post for details), I had the pleasure of sitting down with Luna DNA co-founder Dawn Barry. I picked Luna DNA to kick off the series for a couple of reasons. First, they’re right here in San Diego (well, technically Solana Beach), so...
Starting around six months ago, during the height of the bitcoin craze, a new segment in the genomics landscape started forming – “blockchain genomics”. Since then at least 10 companies in this space have formed. While they don’t all share the exact same business model, they’re all centered around the idea of aggregating consumer genomics...
Two recent reports show that San Diego startups continue to land big investments. The first, from MoneyTree, has local startups pulling in $346M in Q1 compared to $217M from the same period a year ago. The second report, the Venture Monitor, came up with different numbers, but a similar conclusion: $547M in Q1 compared to...
Some good news for San Diego biotech entrepreneurs – there’s new competition in the local co-working market, potentially leading to lower prices or better perks for startup working spaces. The national co-working chain, WeWork, is opening up 54,000 sq. ft. of office space near the heart of San Diego’s biotech hub, with prices as low...
Liquid biopsies represent one of the hottest trends in genomics and there has been an explosion of companies getting into this space. Naturally it’s been a topic of intense interest for consulting clients, so it’s an area that I monitor closely. There are well over 500 companies in the SanDiegOmics “Genome Technology” database, and currently...
The latest issue of GEN summarizes the VC activity in the biotech space for 2017 so far. There were 205 deals through the end of Q2 in which a total of $4.697B was raised. Three genomics companies alone accounted for $1.335B of that total: GRAIL = $900M (Q1) Guardant Health = $360M (Q2) WuXi NextCode...
Helix, the DTC genomics company Illumina spun out in 2015, is open and ready for business. They have used their initial $100M investment to establish a marketplace for the analysis of consumer genomes – an “app store” for genomics, along the lines of Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Helix does the heavy lifting by...
The Scientist just came out with a nice article on circular RNAs, including a summary of the latest research and clues to their function. It’s still not clear what circRNAs “do”, but the consensus has been that whatever it is, it doesn’t involve being translated into protein. That no longer appears to be the case:...