Illumina Acquires BlueBee, Data Analysis, Management

June 18, 2020

By Bio-IT World Staff

June 18, 2020 Illumina announced that it will acquire the Netherlands-based bioinformatics company, BlueBee yesterday evening, giving the sequencing company another in-house bioinformatics platform, this one focused on downstream data analysis, management and collaboration. Financial details were not disclosed.

The BlueBee technology allows users to run any form of bioinformatics analyses through any cloud provider with a regulatory compliant, user-friendly interface, according to a company statement. It simplifies access to data and AI tools, enabling users to easily extract insights from genomic data. This cloud-based capability is expected to lower the cost of storing, distributing sharing and managing the enormous volumes of genomic data that stream from Illumina systems.

Illumina has been building its data analysis options. The company’s BaseSpace Sequencing Hub is the most widely utilized software for sequencing run management and data sharing, Illumina says. In May 2018, Illumina acquired Edico Genomics and integrated DRAGEN into the new NextSeq platforms enables a 3x reduction in data touchpoints and 6x faster secondary analysis.

BlueBee will offer further downstream analysis and collaboration functionalities and will be integrated into Illumina’s cloud portfolio to give users the flexibility to run their own custom analyses or access industry leading options such as the DRAGEN Bio-IT Platform, streamlining data processing and increasing their operational efficiency.

BlueBee’s capabilities include intuitive analysis management (BlueFlow), multi-modal data management (BlueBase), and data science and AI tools (BlueBench), as well as integrated business analytics, and multi-cloud or on-premise deployment modes.

BlueBee originated as a spinoff from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands, and current investors include Buysse & Partners, Korys, Quest for Growth, Capricorn Partners, Heran Partners, Delft Enterprises and Participatie Maatschappij Vlaanderen.

BlueBee employees will join the more than 100 existing Illumina employees in the Netherlands. The company recently leased a new distribution facility in Eindhoven.