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NantOmics Shuts Down Genos Direct-to-Consumer Genomics Services

NEW YORK – Three years after consumer genomics firm Genos was acquired by NantOmics, the company is discontinuing its services.

"It is with great sadness [that] we would like to inform you that we have discontinued offering the Genos product and will stop supporting it beginning June 22. After that, your Genos portal will not be accessible," the company said in a message emailed to Genos customers on Monday, citing the ongoing pandemic as the reason for its decision. 

Customers have until then to dowload their exome and variant data in various formats, including a variant VCF file, a CSV file with variants and ClinVar assessments, and sequencing data in a file format that is compatible with analysis by Promethease. Customers can also download their BAM/FASTQ raw sequencing data upon request.

In the email, the company also shared information for customers to participate in a research study, led by Robert Green at Harvard Medical School, that looks at the experiences, attitudes, and outcomes of healthy adults who have pursued personal genomic sequencing.

"We hope you benefited from insights discovered as part of your Genos experience," the email said. "We strongly believe in the value of owning your data and hope that you can continue to benefit from it."

Genos, based in Northern California, launched in 2016 as a spinoff from Complete Genomics, which had just been acquired by BGI. At the time, Genos was offering consumers their personal CLIA-sequenced exome and software to explore medical implications of their variants for $399, and later $499. It also enabled customers to offer their data for research studies in exchange for compensation.

Later that year, Genos announced four research partners and raised $6 million in funding from NantOmics, which acquired the company in early 2017 for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the acquisition, NantOmics said it planned to incorporate Genos' technology and data visualization expertise into its pan-omic analysis tools.

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