History
Complete Genomics was established in June 2005 by Dr. Clifford Reid, Dr. Radoje (Rade) Drmanac, and Mr. John Curson, and began operations in March 2006.
Our founders shared a vision to provide academic and biopharmaceutical researchers with whole human genomic data and analysis at an unprecedented quality, cost and scale without requiring researchers to invest in in-house sequencing instruments, high-performance computing resources and specialized personnel. Complete Genomics makes human genome sequencing, data analysis and management accessible for all scientific and medical researchers to conduct large-scale genomic research studies. It’s through these studies that researchers understand the genetic basis of disease and gain insight into how we might prevent, diagnose and treat genetic diseases.
Cliff Reid, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Complete Genomics, brought with him more than 25 years of experience in startup and growth companies managing the commercialization of innovative, data management technologies. Rade Drmanac, Complete Genomics’ chief scientific officer, a dedicated and talented scientist, is one of the founders of the field of genomics, and an early participant and a grant recipient of the Human Genome Project. Rade was also one of the pioneers of a massively parallel sequencing technique called sequencing by hybridization. In it's early stages of development, John Curson provided the financial expertise to ensure the company was funded for growth and innovation.
One of the difficult challenges facing the genomics industry is improving our understanding of how genes contribute to diseases that have a complex pattern of inheritance. For many diseases, multiple genes each make a subtle contribution to a person’s predisposition or susceptibility to a disease or response to a drug treatment protocol. We believe that unraveling this complex network will be critical to understanding human health and disease.
Knowing that whole human genome sequencing needed to be done on a large number of samples in order to provide researchers with meaningful perspectives into human diseases, our insight was that large-scale genomic studies required a radically new business and scientific approach.
Large-scale disease studies require accurate and affordable sequencing at a high throughput, and a completely new set of data management and analytics capabilities. The challenge was not just technological but required the ability to bring the technology to market effectively.
Complete Genomics human-focused technology
Complete Genomics decided to exclusively focus on human DNA. Creating a technology that was designed to do human sequencing, ensured that it would be done with the highest standards of accuracy and efficiency. Because we have optimized our technology platform and our operations for the unique requirements of high-throughput whole human genome sequencing, we are able to achieve accuracy levels of 99.9997% at a total cost that is significantly less than the total cost of purchasing and using commercially available DNA sequencing instruments.
Complete Genomics set out to make the process simple
The company decided to combine our proprietary human genome sequencing technology with our advanced informatics and data management software to provide an innovative, end-to-end, outsourced service to our customers. Researchers receive highly accurate genomic data, assembled and annotated, ready for biological interpretation for their large-scale disease projects. Our solution provides researchers with whole human genomic data and analysis at an unprecedented quality, cost and scale without requiring them to invest in in-house sequencing instruments, high-performance computing resources and specialized personnel.
Today, Complete Genomics' genome sequencing center, which began commercial operations in May 2010, combines a high-throughput sample preparation facility, a collection of our proprietary high-throughput sequencing instruments, and a large-scale data center. Our customers ship us their samples via common carrier services such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service. We then sequence and analyze these samples and provide our customers with highly accurate genomic data, assembled and annotated, enabling them to focus exclusively on their single highest priority, biological interpretation and discovery.