Illumina's Billion Cell Atlas adds Formation Bio to boost AI-driven drug discovery with massive genomic data.

Illumina announced that Formation Bio has joined the Billion Cell Atlas alliance, which uses large-scale genome-wide perturbation data to advance AI-driven drug discovery. The Atlas, launched in January 2026, sequences over 350 million cells to map disease biology and improve drug target validation and clinical trial design. Formation Bio will leverage this data to better select drug candidates and patient groups, aiming to increase the success rate of new medicines. This collaboration represents a significant step toward more precise and efficient drug development using AI and extensive biological data.