October 2006 - VisiGen Biotechnologies, Inc., led by President and CEO Susan Hardin, has been announced as a participant in the Archon X Prize for Genomics competition.  $10 million will go to the first team to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days time. [press release]

The Archon X PRIZE for Genomics is a multi-million dollar incentive to create technology that can successfully map 100 human genomes in 10 days. The prize is designed to usher in a new era of personalized preventative medicine and stimulate new avenues of research and development of medical sciences.

Genome sequence information opens the door to a person’s future and their past. The launching of the Archon Genomics X PRIZE will help to focus attention on technologies that promise to revolutionize basic research, forensic science, and medicine. In particular, personalized medicine is projected to positively impact human health and reduce overall health care costs by facilitating early diagnosis and targeted disease monitoring, and by enabling customized drug therapies. Society must also prepare for the use of this very personal information to ensure that it is properly safeguarded. This announcement by the X PRIZE Foundation should encourage development of appropriate measures regarding genetic privacy so that these measures are in place before deployment of a technology with the capability of sequencing a human genome in less than a day for $1000.

Comments from Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Founder and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation:

"The X PRIZE Foundation has created a unique philanthropic prize model designed to stimulate research and accelerate development of radical breakthroughs that will benefit humanity."

"The Archon X PRIZE for Genomics will revolutionize personalized medicine and custom medical treatment, forever changing the face of medical research and making genome sequencing affordable and available in every hospital and medical care facility in the world."

Comments from Dr. Susan Hardin, Founder and CEO of VisiGen Biotechnologies:

"The ability to sequence a human genome in less than a day for $1K requires the development of a disruptive technology - a technology that approaches the problem at the single-molecule level (to reach the cost target) and in massively-parallel arrays (to reach the throughput target). VisiGen is developing a technology that meets these critical requirements."

"VisiGen applauds the X PRIZE Foundation for directing the world's attention towards the future - a future that may not be so far away."

"VisiGen is honored to join the competition for the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics."

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational non-profit prize institute whose mission is to bring about radical breakthroughs in space and technology for the benefit of humanity. On October 4th, 2004, the X PRIZE Foundation captured world headlines when Mojave Aerospace Ventures, led by Burt Rutan and Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private craft to space twice in two weeks to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE. Because of the dramatic nature of the achievement, the X PRIZE Foundation is now widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. Based on the success of the Ansari X PRIZE, The Foundation will develop new prizes in other major scientific areas.