This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Regeneron forms consortium to sequence genetic data
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Regeneron has launched a consortium to fund the generation of genetic exome sequence data from 500,000 volunteer participants, the company announced in a press release.
The “precompetitive” consortium includes collaborators AbbVie, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Biogen and Pfizer, which will each commit $10 million to enable the acceleration of sequencing timelines, while Regeneron conducts the sequencing effort, according to the release.
Volunteer participants from the UK Biobank health resource will be sequenced with detailed, de-identified medical and health records including enhanced measures such as brain, heart and body imaging, the release said.
Original sequencing was expected to be completed by 2022, but with the new consortium in place, should be finished by the end of 2019 with all data being available by the end of 2020, the release said.
Data collected will create a resource for linking human genetic variations to human biology and disease, according to the release.
Members of the consortium will have a limited period of exclusive access to the data before it is made available to other health researchers.
“We’re proud to have gathered a consortium of industry leaders who recognize the significance of early-stage, transparent research, and who want to make a difference for patients by developing this resource together with UK Biobank,” Aris Baras, MD, vice president and head of Regeneron’s genetics center said in the release.
Source: Regeneron.com