San Diego gene sequencing giant Illumina is investing more in artificial intelligence to fuel the company’s growth strategy through a partnership with Nvidia.
Nvidia — the Santa Clara tech company at the forefront of artificial intelligence computing — and Illumina are combining their strengths to make genomic sequencing more efficient for researchers.
Illumina is a global leader in developing the tools that help scientists analyze strands of DNA as well as large amounts of complex genetic data through multiomic sequencing. Researchers and pharmaceutical companies use this technology to develop new and more precise drug targets.
The San Diego-based company has already integrated artificial intelligence software into its genomic sequencing platforms. But now, the collaboration with Nvidia is aimed at improving research tasks such as cell state or gene transcription prediction on a broader scale.
At the J.P. Morgan Chase Health Care conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen touched on the collaboration in a presentation to investors. He said the sheer amount of data and the complexity of the genomic information is more than one person can handle analyzing with an Excel spreadsheet.
“That’s really where the relationship with Nvidia is going to be powerful,” Thaysen said.
During the first phase of this collaboration, Illumina is working to integrate its existing DRAGEN algorithms to mesh with Nvidia’s processors.
“AI and data science will find their most profound application in genomics,” said Rory Kelleher, senior director, global head of Business Development, Health care and Life Sciences at Nvidia. “Combining Illumina’s world-leading sequencing and analytics platforms with Nvidia’s accelerated computing and AI, we will drive the next generation of genomics interpretation and democratize genomics for drug discovery through AI-powered insights.”
Additionally, Thaysen discussed how this collaboration fits into Illumina’s three-pronged strategy for high single-digit growth by 2027. The partnership with Nvidia is one example of its efforts to scale services, software and its data business for recurring revenue streams.
The other drivers for growth include Illumina’s core sequencing business, such as its NovaSeq X model, and complementing that with expansion into multiomics.
Positioning the company toward growth has been a key focus for Thaysen since he took the reins of Illumina in late 2023. Prior to his arrival, the company was in crisis mode dealing with the fallout of its failed $7 billion acquisition of Grail.
The company also presented its preliminary financials for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024. Revenue for the fourth quarter was approximately $1.10 billion, up 1% from the prior year. For the full year, revenue was down 2% at about $4.33 billion.
Illumina will release its finalized earnings report on Feb. 6.
