European Bioinformatics Sector Expected to Surge

An intra-European purchase agreement will boost the bioinformatics field by combining an exhaustive genomics data base with a highly intuitive software suite.

Qiagen N.V. (Venlo, The Netherlands) will be expanding its industry-leading portfolio of bioinformatics solutions called "Ingenuity Knowledge Base" by incorporating the genomics analysis and sequencing data that comprises the Biobase (Wolfenbüttel, Germany) HGMD (Human Gene Mutation Database) and PGMD (PharmacoGenomic Mutation Database) databases.

HGMD provides comprehensive data on human inherited disease mutations. Widely used in human genetics research, diagnostics, and personal genomics, HGMD enables quick access to single mutation queries and advanced search applications. PGMD identifies all published gene variants that have been shown to affect drug response in patients, with multiple delivery models for accessing this data, including an intuitive exploratory interface and a data download for in-house analysis systems.

“The ability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to rapidly deliver genomic insights is opening up new frontiers for clinical research and medicine, and Qiagen is strategically addressing customers’ needs to interpret the massive amounts of data generated by NGS. With HGMD and other content from Biobase, a respected organization with a dedicated team and robust line of unique databases and software, Qiagen is further extending its competitive advantage as the overall market leader for clinical interpretation of human sequencing data,” said Peer M. Schatz, CEO of Qiagen. “Already today, more than 15,000 users worldwide rely on Qiagen’s bioinformatics products for interpretation and have processed over a quarter of a million genome sequences. HGMD is a unique fit with our offering and will integrate well. We expect to drive additional adoption of this leading literature-based knowledge base used by clinical reference labs for annotating hereditary variants, as well as Biobase’ other solutions by having integrated them into interpretation solutions shared with our Ingenuity Knowledge Base, adding value for Qiagen and Biobase customers and accelerating our growth drivers in NGS and bioinformatics.”

When the acquisition has been completed, Biobase will be renamed Qiagen Wolfenbüttel.

Related Links:
Qiagen N.V.
Biobase