Genomenon in Ann Arbor Acquires Boston Genetics to Speed Curation of Human Genome

Genomenon Inc. in Ann Arbor, a company specializing in genomic intelligence, has acquired Boston Genetics, a genomics interpretation and curation company as part of its plan to curate the entire human genome. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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Woman scientist at work
Ann Arbor’s Genomenon has taken the next step in curating the entire human genome with its acquisition of Boston Genetics. // Stock photo

Genomenon Inc. in Ann Arbor, a company specializing in genomic intelligence, has acquired Boston Genetics, a genomics interpretation and curation company as part of its plan to curate the entire human genome. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The goal is to combine Genomenon’s AI-powered platform for genomic knowledge and tech-enabled scientific expertise with Boston Genetics’ team of genetic scientists to take the lead position and be the first company to curate the entire human genome.

The insights through this curation, starting with the clinical exome, meets Genomenon’s mission to save and improve lives by making genomic information actionable. The company was a spin off business at the University of Michigan.

The expanded team size and genomic expertise is meant to immediately allow Genomenon to offer greater support to its clinical, diagnostic, and pharmaceutical clients as it helps these groups understand the genomic drivers of genetic disease and oncology.

In addition, the acquisition creates a genomics data service arm for Genomenon, allowing the company to provide cost-effective variant curation team extensions for genetic testing labs to speed up their turnaround times.

“Genomenon has always been unique in our approach of combining genetic expertise with our AI-driven genomics engine, Mastermind, which has 100 times more genomic evidence and 50 times more variants than any other resource,” says Mike Klein, CEO of Genomenon. “We have partnered with Boston Genetics for more than three years now and have been consistently impressed with the quality of the team’s expertise and work.

“This acquisition builds on our success and puts us in the lead in the race to curate the entire human genome – bringing unprecedented actionable genomic insights for clinical diagnostic, newborn sequencing, and drug development programs.”

Arslan Berbic, co-founder and CEO of Boston Genetics, will be joining the Genomenon team as its vice president of business development, services platform.

“I am proud of the company my team and I have built with Boston Genetics and am thrilled to now have it as part of Genomenon to further power the company’s mission to curate the genome,” says Berbic. “As a member of the Genomenon team, I am excited as we work to expand our curation and variant interpretation services to our customer base by leveraging Genomenon’s AI curation engine with expert review by the Boston Genetics team.”

The acquisition, which is effective immediately, adds more than 75 trained genetic scientists to the Genomenon team, doubling the size of the company. Boston Genetics’ current customers include several top genetic testing labs across the US which will now have access to Genomenon’s AI-driven curation engine and services platform.