NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Omicia announced today that it has been selected as a genome interpretation partner for Rady Children's Hospital's rapid genome testing project, which aims to quickly perform whole-genome sequencing on patients in the neonatal and pediatric intensive care units.
In 2014, the hospital established the Rady Pediatric Genomics and Systems Medicine Institute with a $120 million donation and $40 million of its own money. Now known as the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine, the research center launched an effort last year to sequence the genomes of children with birth defects of unknown origin.
The institute has now set out to achieve a 24-hour turnaround time for large-scale genome testing in its intensive care units, and will use Omicia's Opal Clinical system for next-generation sequencing data interpretation to reach its goal. The system can analyze sequencing data and deliver clinically relevant information within an hour, Omicia said.
Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Time is of the essence, particularly with newborns who cannot tell us about their symptoms," Stephen Kingsmore, president and CEO of the Rady Children's Institute for Genomic Medicine, said in a statement. "We are excited to have dramatically reduced the time required for whole-genome sequencing, and the Omicia interpretation platform enables us to quickly apply these insights to pediatric patient care."