Illumina is launching a new informatics and artificial intelligence software business aimed at drug developers, with the goal of digesting large-scale DNA sequencing and multi-omics data.
The BioInsight division plans to connect with population-wide, multimodal studies—including national initiatives and strategic partnerships with the biopharma industry—to construct AI platforms for uncovering mechanisms of disease and potential drug targets.
The debut follows Illumina’s expansions earlier this year into protein analysis, spatial transcriptomics and single-cell scrutiny, as it works to build out the capabilities of its sequencers—especially as it faces squeezes in research spending as well as international tariffs and trade restrictions.
“Working together with our customers, we are going beyond sequencing and breaking the barrier between omics data generation and transformative insights,” CEO Jacob Thaysen said in a statement.
BioInsight will be led by Rami Mehio, former head of Illumina's global software and informatics team. He will now join the company’s executive leadership team as a senior VP.
“We are at a pivotal moment in science and technology,” said Mehio. “The dramatic reduction in sequencing costs has unlocked the ability to generate multiomic data at an unprecedented scale. At the same time, we are witnessing an extraordinary rise in AI capabilities.”
“The confluence of these two forces is transforming how we derive biological insights, and Illumina is committed to partnering with our customers and collaborators to develop the largest, highest-quality datasets and the AI-driven tools that turn this data into meaningful discoveries,” he added.
Illumina also expects BioInsight to help it tackle emerging types of biological data, including perturb-seq—a high-throughput technique that employs CRISPR and RNA sequencing to chart genetic changes on a cell-by-cell basis.