Alnylam Pharmaceuticals joins Alliance for Genomic Discovery, expanding diverse clinical genomic dataset to drive precision medicine

Rhea-AI Summary

Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) and Nashville Biosciences announced that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY) has joined the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD) as its ninth member. Alnylam, specializing in RNA interference therapeutics, will leverage the AGD's clinical genomic database to accelerate drug target discovery.

The partnership will contribute to expanding the database by adding 31,250 new whole-genomes to the existing 250,000 whole-genome cohort. The AGD dataset, completed in March 2025, combines diverse genomic data with longitudinal clinical phenotyping, utilizing Illumina's DRAGEN™ and Connected Analytics platforms for rapid analysis and insights generation.

Alnylam joins existing members including AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Merck, and Novo Nordisk in this collaborative effort to advance therapeutic discoveries, particularly in autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.

Positive

• Expansion of AGD dataset with additional 31,250 whole-genomes
• Novel therapeutic targets identified in autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases
• Partnership with major pharmaceutical company strengthens research capabilities
• Enhanced variant calling accuracy across diverse populations through DRAGEN technology

Negative

• None.

Insights

Genomics & Biotech Industry Analyst

Alnylam joining Illumina's AGD strengthens the alliance's dataset, potentially accelerating therapeutic discoveries and expanding Illumina's market leadership.

This announcement marks a strategic expansion of Illumina's Alliance for Genomic Discovery with the addition of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals as its ninth pharmaceutical partner. The partnership brings significant value to Illumina in multiple dimensions:

Alnylam's membership will fund sequencing of an additional 31,250 whole genomes, expanding the alliance's dataset to over 280,000 samples. This increased scale enhances the dataset's statistical power and commercial value to all members, directly benefiting Illumina as the technology provider.

The addition of an RNAi-focused company diversifies the alliance's therapeutic approaches. While previous members (AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, etc.) represent traditional drug modalities, Alnylam's gene-silencing technology creates new use cases for Illumina's sequencing data, potentially driving additional demand for their platforms.

The press release highlights that the AGD has already delivered tangible results - identifying novel therapeutic targets in autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases - proving the commercial value of Illumina's genomic insights. The mention of expanding into proteomics suggests future revenue opportunities as Illumina adds multi-omic capabilities.

What's particularly valuable is how this partnership reinforces Illumina's ecosystem strategy. Rather than just selling sequencing instruments, they're positioning themselves at the center of a pharma R&D network, creating recurring revenue streams through their DRAGEN and Connected Analytics platforms that transform raw genomic data into actionable insights.

This partnership strengthens Illumina's competitive moat in the clinical genomics space by cementing their position as the infrastructure provider of choice for pharmaceutical target discovery.

Alnylam, a leader in RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, will utilize the AGD dataset to inform development of 'gene silencing' medicines

Members leverage AI-powered dataset to accelerate pharma R&D, and ensure that disease-impacting discoveries benefit all people

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), and Nashville Biosciences, LLC (NashBio), today announced Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY) (Alnylam) as a member of the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD). Alnylam, a pioneer in RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, will utilize the AGD clinical genomic database to derive real-world insights and accelerate drug target discovery.

"We welcome Alnylam to the AGD as our members continue to leverage data that fuels innovation in novel therapeutics to improve lives of patients everywhere," said Todd Christian, senior vice president of Services, Arrays and Genomic Access at Illumina. "Alnylam's decision to join the alliance speaks to the immense value of this resource that combines powerful scale and depth of sequencing with clinical data quality and diverse ancestral representation to advance the critical work of our biopharma partners."

Alnylam is the ninth member of the alliance, joining AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Merck, and Novo Nordisk. Alnylam's partnership will further strengthen the AGD clinical genomic database, enabling additional investment to sequence and analyze a new set of 31,250 whole-genomes to be added to the alliance's already groundbreaking 250,000 whole-genome cohort.

RNAi therapeutics function by "silencing" genes that cause or contribute to disease, working upstream of traditional treatment approaches. The AGD's dataset will provide a valuable resource for Alnylam scientists who hunt for new therapeutic targets.

"We are excited to join the Alliance for Genomic Discovery and contribute to the expansion of this important dataset, while simultaneously mining it for insights," said Paul Nioi, senior vice president of Research at Alnylam. "We rely on human genetics to guide us as we discover and develop RNAi therapeutics with the potential to change medicine. The AGD dataset will bolster our ability to identify therapeutic targets that are relevant to patients from many different backgrounds."

As of March 2025, the AGD completed a major milestone in developing the most comprehensive clinical genomic dataset to date. Making this cohort fully representative—by linking analyzed, ancestrally diverse genomic data with informative longitudinal clinical phenotyping—has been a core priority from the start, both to ensure that discoveries benefit all people, and to uncover insights that are often missed in more homogeneous datasets.

The alliance's pace of sequencing, rapid and secure data analysis, and generation of readily usable insights with DRAGEN™ and Illumina Connected Analytics have surpassed previous large-scale genomic efforts, which typically took three to five years to reach 100,000 sequenced genomes. Large-scale aggregation with DRAGEN Iterative gVCF Genotyper further enhances variant calling accuracy and consistency across diverse populations, enabling deeper insights into rare and complex genetic traits. 

The AGD dataset is already proving valuable to alliance members. Novel therapeutic targets, particularly in autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, have been identified or validated, with reports published or underway.

"We are thrilled that Alnylam has chosen to join the AGD and help us expand this unique dataset for all members," said Leeland Ekstrom, chief executive officer of NashBio. "Additional data scale, as well as other planned extensions, such as adding proteomics and extracting more clinical phenotypes from the unstructured parts of the linked electronic health records, will accelerate the pace and types of innovation possible with this resource."

This growth in the alliance's membership coincides with its plans to add multiomic layers to its dataset, which will facilitate faster and more efficient target discovery and therapy development. Illumina and NashBio are actively expanding the AGD network to continue building upon current successes, accelerating therapeutic discovery, and creating new standards for clinical R&D pace, cost efficiency, and efficacy. 

Use of forward-looking statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors to which our business is subject that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statements are: (i) challenges inherent in researching, developing and launching new technologies; (ii) our and our partners' ability to deploy new products, services, and applications, and to expand the markets for genomics-related products and services; and (iii) the challenges associated with multiparty collaborations, including our reliance on the performance of such partners, together with other factors detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent filings on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, or in information disclosed in public conference calls, the date and time of which are released beforehand. We undertake no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements, to review or confirm analysts' expectations, or to provide interim reports or updates on the progress of the current quarter.

About Illumina

Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology, reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To learn more, visit illumina.com and connect with us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

About NashBio

Nashville Biosciences LLC (NashBio), a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), was created to make complex healthcare data easy to use for a wide range of life science research and development applications. Leveraging Vanderbilt University innovation, NashBio harnesses extensive real-world genomics and other longitudinal multi-modal datasets, along with powerful bioinformatics tools, to build and deliver a wide range of data products and services. NashBio works with clients in biotech, pharma, diagnostics, medical devices, and other life sciences domains to support their most critical use cases. We believe smarter data enables better outcomes for our clients and ultimately for patients. For more information, please visit NashBio.com, connect with us on LinkedIn or follow us on X at @NashvilleBio.

Contacts 

Investors:
Illumina Investor Relations
858-291-6421
IR@illumina.com

Media:
Christine Douglass
PR@illumina.com

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SOURCE Illumina, Inc.

FAQ

What is the significance of Alnylam joining the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD)?

Alnylam's membership will strengthen the AGD by adding 31,250 new whole-genomes to the existing 250,000 whole-genome cohort, while allowing them to leverage the database for RNAi therapeutic target discovery.

How many members are now part of the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD)?

The AGD now has nine members, including Alnylam, AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Merck, and Novo Nordisk.

What has the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD) achieved as of March 2025?

AGD completed development of the most comprehensive clinical genomic dataset, linking diverse genomic data with longitudinal clinical phenotyping, and has identified novel therapeutic targets in autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.

How will Illumina's DRAGEN technology benefit the AGD partnership?

DRAGEN Iterative gVCF Genotyper enhances variant calling accuracy and consistency across diverse populations, enabling deeper insights into rare and complex genetic traits.

What are the future plans for the Alliance for Genomic Discovery dataset?

The AGD plans to add multiomic layers to its dataset and extract more clinical phenotypes from unstructured electronic health records to accelerate therapeutic discovery and development.