NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Roche said today that it has acquired Bina Technologies, a privately held informatics company based in Redwood City, Calif., for an undisclosed amount.
Bina markets its proprietary Genomic Management Solution, Bina-GMS, a software system for genomic data analysis.
Bina will be integrated into the Roche Sequencing Unit in the first quarter of 2015. The acquisition will enable Bina to continue to develop and commercialize Bina-GMS to support multiple sequencing technologies while also developing a solution for Roche sequencing systems.
"Informatics and data management are critical to providing a seamless, end-to-end sequencing solution," Dan Zabrowski, head of Roche Sequencing, said in a statement. "Bina's products are designed to improve the efficiency and value of genomic analysis, and the company continues to develop new methodologiesand algorithms that link NGS data to disease-relevant genetic markers."
Bina's CEO and Founder, Narges Bani Asadi, said in a statement that the acquisition validated the firm's technology. "It is also an indication of how informatics and data science are going to play a major role in the future of medicine," she added.
The Bina purchase is Roche's latest in a string of acquisitions within the next-gen sequencing space. Earlier this month, it acquired noninvasive prenatal testing company Ariosa Diagnostics. In October, it acquired NGS sample-prep technology developed by AbVitro in order to develop targeted sequencing panels for the Genia and Pacific Biosciences platforms. Roche acquired the single-molecule nanopore startup Genia in June, and last year struck an agreement with Pacific Biosciences to develop a clinical sequencing system.