Genomic Data Collaboration to Aid Precision Medicine, Drug Discovery
The research collaborative will combine genomic data with de-identified health records to advance precision medicine and drug discovery.
Source: Thinkstock
By Jessica Kent
- The Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is partnering with the Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) to advance precision medicine and drug discovery using genomic data.
The collaboration will share 450,000 DNA samples and corresponding health records from de-identified, consented patient participants in the UCHealth system. The team at RGC will then sequence these samples and produce genomic data that can be used to accelerate translational medical research and enable physicians to make more informed decisions.
CCPM is one of the largest health data warehouses in the US, as well as a pioneer in the use of a secure cloud platform with more than 8.7 million de-identified patient records. The research enterprise is also one of the first and largest programs in the country to integrate personalized genomic information with clinical data through a research biobank.
CCPM providers will validate any genetic findings from the RGC data in their lab, facilitating the return of clinically actionable results to patients.
“This collaboration will take an already notable program at the CCPM and expand the depth and breadth of its capabilities, allowing us to give more back to our patient participants than ever before,” said Kathleen Barnes, PhD, Professor and Director of CCPM at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
“We have made tremendous strides with our work in pharmacogenomics, but having access to such a large genomic dataset that enables the return of clinically actionable results will be transformative. Our collaboration with the RGC will lead to an optimization of patient care, using personalized results to better inform clinical decision making, and potentially leading to new ways of diagnosing, preventing and treating illnesses.”
RGC has built one of the world’s largest genetic databases, pairing sequenced exomes and de-identified EHRs of more than one million people through collaborations with more than 80 global healthcare and academic institutions. The information gathered from this initiative will allow for the large-scale elucidation of genetic factors that cause a range of human diseases, leading to advancements in precision medicine.
“We’re excited to collaborate with the CCPM and UCHealth to further expand the RGC’s large-scale genomics initiatives,” said Aris Baras, MD, Senior Vice President at Regeneron and Head of the Regeneron Genetics Center.
“In the search for new and improved medicines, as well as the advancement of validated and improved risk scores in medicine, both scale and quality of data matter. This partnership opens up new doors for meaningful discovery, strengthens Regeneron’s ability to speed and improve the drug development process, and allows us to work alongside other leaders in the advancement of genomic and precision medicine.”
A large number of patients from UCHealth have consented to biobank participation for the project, more than half of whom live outside the metro Denver area and in neighboring states like Wyoming and Nebraska.
“Our patients are already benefitting from the remarkable work of the CCPM which is allowing providers to use genomics to make more accurate diagnoses and precisely tailor treatment to individual patients,” said Richard Zane, MD, UCHealth Chief Innovation Officer, who is also the Professor and Chair of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“This partnership will help drive the health care discoveries of tomorrow and realize the full potential of precision medicine. We so appreciate our patients who have consented to participate and without whom discovery would not be possible.”
