Partnership with Regeneron for UK Biobank exome sequencing
In January 2018, we became part of a collaboration alongside seven other pharmaceutical companies that aimed to speed up the exome sequencing of 500,000 UK participants, to help researchers and patients around the world.1,2
Sequencing a person’s whole genome is time-consuming and expensive. That’s why some researchers choose to sequence the 1-2% of protein-coding genes in a genome, known as the exome.3
Through exome sequencing, researchers can begin to identify mutations in known genes that can aid diagnosis, identify new targets for treatment and in the longer term lead to potential new therapies.3
Since 2006, the UK Biobank has recruited 500,000 people aged between 40-69 years living in the UK who reguarly give blood, urine and saliva samples for widespread research use.4 Participants also provide detailed information about their lifestyle which is linked to their health-related records.4 The retrospective data allows researchers to look at history of disease while the prospective data will allow researchers to understand what might contribute to the development of new cases of disease.
Announced in January 2018, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals brought together AbbVie, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Biogen and Pfizer (and later joined by Takeda and Bristol Myers Squibb) who each provided $10 million funding to enable the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) to expedite the sequencing as part of one of the industry's most ambitious 'pre-competitive' research efforts.1,2 The collaboration builds upon the original sequencing initiative started with Regeneron and GSK who committed to analysing data from the first 50,000 UK Biobank participants.1,2
The best part of this massive medical endeavour? In July 2022, the UK Biobank announced the exome sequencing project complete, having sequenced over 470,000 participants.5 The anonymous data is open to approved researchers through the cloud-based UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform.5 Any research results are required to be released back to the UK Biobank, so they can be shared with other scientists with the aim to help improve the health of future generations.6
OUR SCIENCE
In 2015 we joined ADDoPT, a 4 year £20.4 million collaborative project between government, pharmaceutical companies, SME's and academia.
OUR SCIENCE
We've been a Tier 1 partner of the Centre for Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC), at the University of Strathclyde, since 2017.
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