NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Personalis announced yesterday that it has been awarded a contract to provide whole-genome DNA sequencing and data analysis services to the US Department of Veterans Affairs for its Million Veteran Program (MVP).
The program was launched in early 2011 to study the link between genes and disease with a voluntary research cohort of more than 450,000 military veterans. In partnership with the Precision Medicine Initiative, the MVP was recently expanded to include active duty enrollees.
Personalis first began working with the VA in 2013, when it received a contract to provide sequencing and data analysis for 1,000 MVP volunteers. The next year, the VA hired the company to provide clinical exome sequencing services.
"We are extremely pleased to continue our relationship with the VA and support the VA's scientific leadership," Personalis CEO John West said in a statement. "As one of the most ambitious medical research sequencing and database efforts in the world, the VA Healthcare System has the opportunity to work toward gaining a better understanding of how genetic variations may affect veteran health."
Personalis said the new contract brings its total number of whole genome deliveries to the VA to more than 10,000. Financial details about the latest contract were not disclosed.