Aperiomics Launches Novel NGS Services

Aperiomics (Ashburn, VA, USA), founded in October 2013 to bring ground-breaking solutions that address disease challenges, has launched its first commercial services with its breakthrough “Absolute-NGS Pathogen Detection Platform.” The platform consists of a novel set of 3 new-generation sequencing (NGS) services that provide unique tools for more effective identification of known and unknown microorganisms, focusing on pathogens.

The Absolute-ID service identifies known pathogens in virtually any sample. The Absolute-Discover service can discover new pathogens. The Absolute-Biome service is designed to identify all microorganisms present in a given sample – such microbiome studies can help understand the impact of disease, drugs, or environmental changes.

Aperiomics, named after the Latin "aperio" meaning to reveal, is rolling out this package to provide laboratories, public health care, and businesses with better tools for rapid pathogen identification. The unique service addresses the biggest challenge in applying NGS to real-world analysis – making sense of the massive amount of data spawned by NGS. Aperiomics’ innovative technology uses an unbiased sequencing and genomic analysis approach. With their novel combination of genomics and informatics, the company capitalizes on high-throughput NGS and advanced Bayesian statistics to produce faster and better results than other approaches.

According to Jeff Gallagher, CEO of Virginia Bio, “Much of the promise of the future of health care and biomedical research depends on innovative use of data analytics. Done right, this will yield speed, power, and insights well beyond forerunner products and services based solely in biology and chemistry. It will open up unimaginable new opportunities to create value for patients worldwide. Aperiomics is a case in point.”

Aperiomics CEO Crystal Icenhour, PhD, explains the importance of these services: “The majority of pathogens are currently never identified. Thus, the advantages of accurate determination can be measured with improvements in human health, significant cost savings, and reduced risks to public health.”

The technology behind these Aperiomics’ services is the result of collaboration by three co-founders: The company’s president, Keith A. Crandall, PhD and director of the Computational Biology Institute at George Washington University; Chief Technology Officer W. Evan Johnson, PhD and assistant professor of Medicine, Biostatistics, and Bioinformatics at Boston University School of Medicine; and Chief Science Officer Eduardo Castro-Nallar, PhD in Biological Sciences from George Washington University.

Aperiomics is seeking additional funding to expand operations and service capacity.

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