Depiction of silver DNA token

IndyGeneUS AI, Inc. to Acquire the World’s First Blockchain-Mediated Free Market For Genetic Data, EncrypGen

Individuals are one step closer to controlling and monetizing their genetic data

WASHINGTON, DC (Nov. 24, 2021) – IndyGeneUS AI, Inc., to acquire Florida-based EncrypGen, Inc. for an undisclosed amount. The company expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

This announcement came earlier today by IndyGeneUS AI, a genomics company creating the world’s largest digital blockchain-encrypted repository of indigenous and diasporic African clinical and genomic data. Our proprietary technology can detect novel signature sequences, biomarkers, and polygenic risk scores by integrating “multi-omics” data, electronic healthcare record (EHR) data, and textual information such as scientific manuscripts.

“IndyGeneUS AI now has the ability to compensate individuals whose data is selected by investigators and medical professionals for research or clinical trials on our secured GenēUS platform,” says IndyGeneUS AI CEO, Yusuf Henriques. “The founders of EncrypGen, David Koepsell and Vanessa Gonzalez made this possible through their “Gene-Chain”, or digital marketplace that solves two problems: it provides scientists the genomic data they need to conduct research, while also allowing individuals to generate revenue when they share their data.”

Over the past five years, EncrypGen has created a safe and equitable exchange of deidentified genetic data between individuals and researchers. Over 7,000 consumers benefit from EncrypGen’s secured marketplace, where members earn passive revenue from the use of their existing genetic data, in the form of EncrypGen’s proprietary currency ($DNA). EncrypGen customers will also have the opportunity to import genetic testing data files into the newly-developed, HIPPA-compliant GenēUS online platform. There, user’s genetic data will be combined with electronic healthcare record (EHR) and survey data to earn additional passive income, each time their data is queried to generate research insights or by participating in clinical trials.

“As a bioethicist, I was inspired to create EncrypGen by cases like Henrietta Lacks in order to help ensure equity and justice in genomic data science,” says Koepsell. “EncrypGen will now fully realize this founding goal through this acquisition. No other company has the promise and vision that IndyGeneUS AI and Yusuf have shown to do right by everyone and enable vital scientific progress,” said Koepsell, who will remain on-board as an active advisor for bioethics and product development and integration.

IndyGeneUS AI will also offer EncrypGen users an affordable and secure whole genome sequencing services that decode the entire human genome. Other widely available services in the marketplace offer only a fraction (2%) of your genome. This service will utilize multiple DNA sequencing platforms, including next-generation sequencing (NGS), as well as short and long-read methodologies. The terabytes of data generated will be analyzed leveraging the computational power available to IndyGeneUS AI as a Microsoft for Startups company. IndyGeneUS AI is leveraging genetic diversity via large-scale human genome sequencing to understand the causes of diseases that disproportionately impact Black, Brown, and Indigenous populations. This will lay the foundation for personalized biologics and vaccine of the future including targeted gene therapies that aim to reduce or eliminate health disparities.

For more information about IndyGeneUS AI visit: https://indygeneus.ai.

For media inquiries contact: Angel Livas at [email protected].

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About IndyGeneUS AI
IndyGeneUS AI is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and minority-owned biotechnology (biotech) company based in Washington, DC, with a presence in Cape Town, South Africa. The biotech firm is creating the world’s largest block-chain EncrypGen’s proprietary DNA token. encrypted repository of indigenous and disaporic African clinical and multi-omics data to advance novel therapeutic gene target discovery and to drive precision health equity. Recently featured in GenomeWeb.

About EncrypGen
EncrypGen, Inc. creates software that empowers individuals, researchers, and businesses to share genetic data. Founded in 2017 on the principle that individuals have the sovereign right to be secure in the control and use of their personal data. We are dedicated to democratizing the market for the safe and equitable exchange of DNA data between individuals and medical and scientific researchers. EncrypGen also coined the phrase genechain as a parallel to blockchain and is the sole proprietor of the $DNA coin, which is active on the crypto currency marketplace.

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