MILAN — 21 November 2019 — At the 2019 EY Imprenditori Award Ceremony, leading DNA sequencing company Dante Labs has been recognized as Start-Up of the Year by Ernst & Young, the global leader in assurance, transaction and advisory services.

The recognition comes after an accurate evaluation by business experts.
Among the several criteria used by the jury to evaluate the candidates, Dante Labs exceeds for their business idea, especially for the strong impact they have on innovative research, and for their far-sighted vision to make advanced genomics accessible to everyone. By leveraging advanced data analysis algorithms and new DNA sequencing techniques, they offer personalized reports and continuous updates, making the genomics a service concept and implementing it in their new European sequencing center.

When they have been asked why they have chosen L’Aquila as the headquarter of Dante Labs, Andrea Riposati (Co-founder and CEO) and Mattia Capulli (Co-founder) said that it was not only for an emotional manner: “L’Aquila hosts one of the first biotechnology faculties of Italy and there are many relevant academic opportunities to collaborate with, such as Gran Sasso Science Institute. Moreover, Ciampino Airport is an important hub for DHL.”

The two friends started their company in 2016, and two years later they sequenced 8000 whole genomes, which is 2% of the samples sequenced in the world. Their goal is to reach 20.000 DNA samples sequenced in 2019.
A deserved reward for Dante Labs, also for the series of practices and work methodologies focused on the confidentiality in the data-processing. Dante Labs fully meets the GDPR rules, in order to protect the privacy of their customers.

 
As Luca Pellizzoni, EY partner and responsible of the EY Imprenditori Award, said: “This Award wants to recognize the Italian excellences.”
And Dante Labs, with business abilities, talents and great logistics found the perfect mix to be the best start-up in 2019.

The jury was presided by Gianni Mion, Edition President, and it was composed by Alberto Baban, entrepreneur; Paolo Boccardelli, director of LUISS Business School; Guido Corbetta, full professor in Corporate Strategy at Bocconi; Monica Mandelli, Managing Director in KKR & Co. in New York; Marco Nocivelli, president and CEO of Gruppo Epta; Cristina Scocchia, CEO of KIKO S.p.A.; Paolo Scudieri, CEO of Adler Plastic S.p.A.; Nunzio Tartaglia, responsible of CDP Imprese.

The 23rd Edition of EY Imprenditori Award was supported by Banca Akros (Gruppo Banco BPM) and Board International. The EY Start-Up Award was supported by P101.

Dante Labs has announced today the Ulysses Genome Project that will create an inclusive Mediterranean genome reference of 100,000 individuals that reflects the powerful diversity of Africa, Europe, and the Middle East

LONDON — 11 November 2019 — At the SynGen Series UK Conference today, leading DNA sequencing company Dante Labs announced its new Mediterranean Genome Project, Ulysses, which will sequence 100,000 human whole genomes in the next 3 years. 

The goal is to create a new and diverse reference genome that goes beyond the traditional reference genomes that were based solely on Anglo-Saxon populations. Ulysses will further advance the understanding of human genomes for all populations, enabling new groups of people to fully benefit from the power of genome sequencing.

 “We will sequence the genomes of 100,000 people from Africa, the Middle East, and Europe in the next 3 years”, says Dante Labs CEO Andrea Riposati. “Populations around the Mediterranean Sea are a single large group of people with several individual differences. We need to have more inclusive technology based on this diversity, instead of considering diversity only an option. As a more diverse reference genome, Ulysses will allow every individual to receive the most benefits from whole genome sequencing technology. We thank the Abruzzo Region, FiRA, Invitalia and all of our partners for supporting inclusive diversity with this project.”

In these past two years, working with individuals in 90 countries, Dante Labs has identified a key issue in genomics and life science: too many people are completely left out of research. This means that scientists know less about their health, and new therapies are not optimised for these people. The Mediterranean Genome Project aims to solve this problem.

Ulysses will leverage Artificial Intelligence to take into account the individual differences in environment, history, lifestyle, nutrition, and biology. Data will be stored in Europe to guarantee GDPR protection for all participants. Sequencing will be performed by Dante Labs in its high-output sequencing centre in Italy.

Funding for the Ulysses Genome Project comes from a group of innovators that include the Abruzzo Region Innovation Fund FiRA (Finanziaria Regionale Abruzzese), the Italian Government Innovation Agency, Invitalia, as well as several private organizations. 

Early partners will be announced in the next few weeks. Universities, hospitals, research centres and biobanks are invited to apply at the Ulysses Genome Project website.

Since our last update 45 days ago, we sequenced more than 1000 whole genomes in our new lab in Europe. We are now sequencing more than 300 whole genomes per week.

This means that 300 people will receive their long-awaited, full results every week. 

We have not completed our backlog yet, but we are getting closer every day.

We will now post more regular updates.

Also, we learned from our mistakes and we made investments to ensure that no one will ever have to experience delays in the future. We will continue to ensure that more and more people will get access to advanced genomics at accessible prices.

Thanks and kindest regards,

Andrea Riposati
CEO
Dante Labs