PetaGene announces collaboration with AstraZeneca to deploy its genomic data compression software in core genomics initiative

“Using genomic data for biopharmaceutical targets discovery requires large cohorts with massive multi-petabyte data sets. The time required to transfer these data from sequencers to compute clusters as well as the cost of storage can cripple these large initiatives,” said Vaughan Wittorff, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of PetaGene. “PetaSuite addresses the challenges caused by growing volumes of genomics data and achieves up to 10x reductions in storage costs and transfer times, while adhering to the industry-standard BAM and FASTQ genomics file formats.”

To date, AstraZeneca’s CGR has processed more than 200,000 genomics datasets, generating over a petabyte of data. One petabyte of data is equivalent to streaming HD movies for 40 years without a break. At this volume of data, problems in processing time, data transfers and storage size can impact the ability to deliver at scale. PetaGene’s compression software will enable the CGR to compress over 200,000 BAM files in a 24-hour period and will add the compressed data to tiered cloud storage.

“AstraZeneca’s Centre for Genomics Research has the bold ambition to analyse up to two million genomes by 2026. Minimizing the storage footprint and transfer time of genome data while maximizing data access and compute processing is a necessity to enable us to achieve our ambition,” said Slavé Petrovski, Vice President and Head of Genome Analytics and Bioinformatics, Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca.

PetaSuite will enable the CGR to achieve an average data reduction of 76% or a 4x expansion of storage capacity. PetaGene’s transparent, lossless compression of files reduces transfer times to less than a quarter, and PetaGene’s software allows unmodified analysis tools to run more quickly.

PetaSuite users typically make it an intrinsic part of their cloud or locally hosted analysis pipeline. As data is processed, it is compressed ready for use in the next stage of analysis without it needing to be decompressed later. PetaSuite Cloud Edition allows for the seamless integration of an organization’s own tools and pipelines in the cloud or local environment of their choosing.

About PetaGene

PetaGene helps organisations manage their rapidly growing genomic data using transparent lossless compression and encryption. PetaGene’s multi award-winning software significantly reduces storage and access costs, accelerates transfers and analyses, and simplifies cloud integration for genomic data. It also helps manage compliance through encryption and deep auditing. All this is achieved without requiring changes to an organisation’s existing pipelines, tools or infrastructure. Large pharma, commercial, clinical and academic labs use PetaGene to cut costs, reduce turn-around times, and add new capabilities to their genomic workflows without disruption to their users or technology framework. For more information visit www.petagene.com or email sales@petagene.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191016005016/en/