Biotechnology has had a major role in evolving the health and medicine industry. In the past 50 years, the industry has led to the discovery of some of the remarkable solutions in history. Recently, The Human Genome Project, which took 13 years and wrapped up ahead of schedule in 2003, is now considered the stepping stone of modern genetic testing. With the rise in the demand for clinical research, solutions like bioinformatics are being sought highly.
In this ever-changing age of technology, Golden Helix has been delivering leading bioinformatics solutions for the advancement of life science research and translational medicine for over 20 years. It provides innovative technological and analytic services that empower scientists and healthcare professionals in deriving meaning from the rapidly increasing volumes of genomic data.
An Accomplished Leader
The company was founded by Andreas Scherer. He developed algorithms that conduct DNA sequence analysis, as a part of his academic work. In the last decade, he has focused on accelerating the R&D processes of Fortune 500 pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical companies. As a result of this work, he is intimately familiar with the domestic and international life sciences market.
Dr. Scherer holds a ‘Ph.D. in Computer Science’ from the University of Hagen, Germany, and a Master of Computer Science from the University of Dortmund, Germany. He is the author and co-author of over 20 international publications and has written books on project management, the Internet, and artificial intelligence. Presently, he is both President and CEO of Golden Helix.
“Our tools for NGS testing have allowed more and more people to access the wealth of knowledge found within a person’s DNA,” says Dr.Scherer.
Unique Analytical Services
Golden Helix is a global bioinformatics firm that was established in 1998 in Bozeman, Montana. For the past 20+ years, the company has been developing and selling industry-leading clinical solutions to support the analysis of sequencing data and the creation of clinical reports. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) includes many iterations of sequencing, that are utilized in many clinical and research operations. Golden Helix offers complex computational program tools for NGS testing.
The company provides support for various industries, including clinical diagnostic laboratories, human genetic research, pharmaceutical R&D, agrigenomic research, and education. The software tools provided by Golden Helix have been cited in thousands of peer-reviewed publications and are used by over 20,000 users in approximately 400 institutions globally. Additionally, the company provides automation capabilities that are crucial in high-throughput testing environments.
There are a variety of reasons that have resulted in the success of Golden Helix. One of the most obvious reasons being its affordable pricing models. An organized pricing structure allows the customers to budget in advance while maximizing the use of the offered solutions. The company provides unlimited training and technical support for all its licensed products. Another difference that sets Golden Helix apart from its competition is the scalability of its tools. The software tools offered by the company handle all gene panels, whole exome, and whole-genome data with ease, in addition to detecting copy number variations.
Dominant Software Tools
Golden Helix is one of the few bioinformatics companies that have 20+ years of experience in building solutions in the research and clinical space. The company has witnessed changes in industry trends over the years. It started with the research platform, SNP & Variation Suite (SVS). SVS was built to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) but has many functionalities. It can be used for DNAseq workflows, CNV analysis, imputation, and genomic prediction.
Later, Golden Helix realized that there was a real need for an efficient clinical platform. This was the impetus for the company’s next platform, VarSeq. This tool gives high-throughput capabilities to users while analyzing NGS data. This scalable tool handles gene panels, whole-exome, and whole-genome data. The variants pass through filters, isolating clinically relevant variants which are then evaluated through AMP and ACMG guidelines. The information is then rendered into a final clinical report.
Adapting to the ‘New Normal’
2020 proved to be an unprecedented time for everyone across the globe. Golden Helix assisted its customers by offering discounts to research on COVID-19 related projects. These discounts were aimed to make solutions more affordable for organizations and ensure they have the most robust and dependable tools. Additionally, due to social distancing and lockdown restrictions, numerous customers began working remotely. Golden Helix understood the necessity and provided constant support to its clients. With solutions being locally installed, the customers were unable to access their devices and needed temporary license installations for new locations. Prioritizing the health and well-being of its customers, the company implemented a “remote license assistance program” that alleviated the burden on its customers.
In 2021, Golden Helix looks forward to expanding its global customer base. Its customers already appreciate the flexibility, scalability, robustness, and streamlined nature of the tool stack. The company will continue to work on providing exceptional solutions with a focus on quality, scalability, and ease of use. Golden Helix aims to continue its reputation of having the best customer service while also focusing on improving efficiency for its customers.
Future Possibilities
Precision medicine is an extremely fast-moving target, and it is fundamentally changing how healthcare is being practiced. Thus, an incredible knowledge base is essential for practitioners in this field. Golden Helix has always placed a hearty emphasis on education, in part as new methods and therapies are being introduced every day.
“Golden Helix strives to ensure customers have a strong understanding of the association between disease and genome variation, pharmacogenomics, and tumor profiling for cancer treatments,” said Dr. Scherer.
Golden Helix’s customers have always had unadulterated training support, and now have best practice workflows for both single nucleotide and copy number variations in the form of VSClinical. The tool intuitively guides the users through the extensive and complex ACMG and AMP guidelines. This workflow allows clients to learn the guidelines as they go through their workflows.
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