It also intends to publish research findings from its collaborations with California-based Human Longevity, Inc (HLI) and non-profit research centres the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Institute for Molecular Medicine, Helsinki will be published in peer-reviewed journals, in order to contribute to “the broader scientific understanding of the genetic influence of disease”, AstraZeneca said in its announcement.
The company also intends to set up its own in-house Centre for Genomics Research at its new corporate headquarters in Cambridge, where it will create a “bespoke database of genome sequences” based on samples donated by participants in its past and future clinical trials along with associated clinical and drug response data, according to the announcement. The centre will “work closely with the international genomics community” on further scientific and clinical research using this database, along with other genome data made available through the new collaborations and in the public domain, AstraZeneca said.
Menelas Pangalos, AstraZeneca’s executive vice president for innovative medicines and early development, said that genomics would become “fundamental” to the company’s laboratory research, clinical trials and future products.
“Using the power of genomics is the foundation of our ambition to develop the most innovative and impactful treatments for patients,” he said. “With the advent of next generation sequencing and the increased sophistication of data analysis, the time is now right to immerse ourselves fully in the international genomics community through these pioneering collaborations and through the creation of our own genome centre.”
AstraZeneca is one of the participating companies in the UK government-backed 100,000 Genomes project, which aims to sequence the DNA of 100,000 NHS England patients by 2017 as part of research into the treatment of a number of chronic illnesses. The newly-announced collaborations will give the company access to information from up to two million genome sequences, including over 500,000 from its own clinical trials.
Genomics is the study of the human genome, which is a double string of DNA that carries all of the genes that make up a particular individual. The research focuses on the many small differences in individual genomes, which scientists believe can cause common diseases such as diabetes, asthma or cancer when combined with environmental influences.
AstraZeneca has announced a 10-year partnership with HLI, the California-based company run by the US scientist Craig Ventner who was one of the first people in the world to sequence the human genome. HLI’s Knowledge base is already the most comprehensive genomics database in the world, according to the company, and its partnership with AstraZeneca will enable it to sequence an additional 500,000 samples collected under opt-in informed consent from participants in the UK company’s clinical trials throughout the length of the partnership.
AstraZeneca also intends to establish a research team within the Wellcome Trust’s non-profit Sanger Institute genetics research centre, with which it will share genomic samples, associated data and drug development expertise across its core therapy areas. It will also collaborate with the Institute of Molecular Medicine, which is part of the University of Helsinki, to study genes of interest in the Finnish population, which is known to carry a higher than average frequency of rare variants.
Bahija Jallal, the executive vice president of AstraZeneca’s biologics research and development arm MedImmune, said that the company was “acutely aware” that no single company could properly conduct all the necessary research in the fast-evolving fields of genetics and genomics.
“[This is] why we have chosen to work with the genomics community to leverage external expertise in genomic analyses and the design of large-scale genetic studies,” she said. “Together, with the rich clinical data from our biobank, we will translate these findings into better understanding of disease and, ultimately, more effective treatments for patients.”