PierianDx has bought Tute Genomics for an undisclosed amount. The deal gives PierianDx the genomics platform Kai Wang’s Tute built up over its four years of operation and through the buyout of former trailblazer Knome.
Having landed the deal, PierianDx is now working to integrate Tute’s technology into its own Clinical Genomicist Workspace. The integration, which is scheduled to be ready by spring of next year, is part of PierianDx’s attempt to build a comprehensive genomic testing service.
PierianDx’s push was given impetus in January when it pulled in $9.25 million in Series A funding to refine its workspace, which has been in use at Washington University in St. Louis,since 2011.
The next version of PierianDx’s platform will benefit from Tute’s exome-testing capabilities and other strengths. PierianDx picked out improved phenotype-driven prioritization, variant filtering and parallel querying as ways the next version of the workspace will improve on the current iteration.
Tute investor Healthbox welcomed the buyout and talked up the potential of the combination.
“This type of consolidation is exactly what the industry needs to bring to market the most unified workflow solution for genomic testing,” Healthbox VP Jeffrey Ries said in a statement.
Tute previously found itself on the other side of the deal table. In November, the company bought Knome for its software, specifically its ability to carry out complex comparisons of samples. Speaking at the time, Knome board member Paul Enever prophetically predicted further consolidation in the genomics sector.
Equipped with a genome portal based on the technology it acquired from Knome, Tute set out last month to raise $100,000 on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter by offering genome and exome sequencing and interpretation services. That plan was scrapped at the back of last month when the inability to quickly resolve a letter from FDA prompted Tute to suspend the Kickstarter campaign.
This week, nine business days after disclosing the run-in with FDA, Tute revealed it had been bought by PierianDx.