QIAGEN and Inova Translational Medicine Institute Introduce New Database of Ethnically and Phenotypically Diverse Whole Genome Information

REDWOOD CITY, California, and FALLS CHURCH, Virginia, June 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) and Inova Translational Medicine Institute (ITMI) today announced the commercial launch of Inova Genomes, a unique compendium of ethnically, phenotypically, and ancestrally diverse whole-genome sequencing data for researchers seeking to accelerate cohort analysis programs or improve success rates in diagnostic odyssey cases. QIAGEN will serve as the exclusive distributor of the database, which is accessible via the company's secure and integrated Ingenuity® Variant Analysis and CLC Biomedical Genomics Workbench platforms.

The Inova Genomes dataset was built by ITMI from a collection of more than 7,000 whole genomes derived from over 2,800 families who consented to make this information available to support advances in disease research. Unlike NIH-funded genomic studies, which must make their data publicly available, privately funded studies like those of ITMI do not have this requirement. However, ITMI feels that it has an ethical duty to contribute to collaborative efforts by diverse groups working to better understand human health, and that QIAGEN can offer a unique opportunity to achieve this while stringently protecting participant confidentiality. Using their own bioinformatics tools or QIAGEN's proprietary bioinformatics tools, researchers can easily and interactively mine these data directly for hypothesis generation and validation, including in combination with their own data for improved resolution of diagnostic odyssey cases and the reduction of false-positive rates.

"We are honored to collaborate with ITMI to make this new big data offering available for the benefit of therapeutic discovery and patient care around the world," said Douglas Bassett, Ph.D., Chief Science and Technology Officer for QIAGEN's Bioinformatics Business Area. "Inova Genomes is the latest addition to QIAGEN's industry leading portfolio of databases that includes Ingenuity Knowledge Base, HGMD and the Allele Frequency Community. Paired with our integrated bioinformatics solutions, these expertly curated content resources can be mined and queried through QIAGEN's interpretation solutions. These comprehensive, easy-to-use solutions are helping advance disease research and drive the adoption of next generation sequencing in clinical settings."