Genomics Medicine Ireland: Abbvie joins Irish start-up in major genome study

Multinational pharma group Abbvie is joining forces with an Irish startup to map the genomes of 45,000 Irish people in an effort to develop drugs for the future.The 15-year deal will see Genomics Medicine Ireland work with the US group to examine potential genetic triggers for a series of major chronic diseases in the areas of cancer, neurosciences and immunology.Genomics Medicine Ireland, which was founded in 2015 and raised $40 million in funding last year, uses population-based genomic analysis to help target future drug development. The approach is built on work done in Iceland by another company DeCode.Genomics Medicine Ireland acting chief executive Daniel Crowley, says Ireland is a particularly strong candidate for similar research."In the first place, we have a founder population, that is a population that is highly representative of other populations, which means our results should be highly applicable elsewhere," he said."Second, there is a high degree of homogeneity. While it is not quite the same as Iceland, it is much more than many other populations. Although there has been migration in Ireland, until very recently, most of it has been a case of people moving abroad rather than coming into the population."The initiative, announced Moonday at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, will also involve DeCode spin-off WuXi NextCODE, which specialises in algorithms that allow analysis and sequencing of whole genomes on a scale that would not have been possible until recently.Genomics Medicine Ireland as already started recruiting volunteers who provide genetic data for the project but said it would be scaling up its efforts considerably over the next 18 to 24 months. . The data is "depersonalised" so that no information identifying donors of particular genetic data is retained by the companies.Ultimately, Abbvie, which already employs more than 600 people in Ireland, will use the research database developed by Genomics Medicine Ireland to identify new approaches for drug discovery and development."Genomics is transforming the way we understand some of the world's most devastating diseases and enabling the discovery of new approaches that have the potential to deliver much greater benefit to patients," said Jim Sullivan, vice-president of pharmaceutical discovery at Abbvie. "This alliance is an important part of our research strategy and complements our significant footprint here in Ireland."Mr Crowley said Abbvie was a "fantastic fit" for Genomics medicine Ireland "both for the disease areas tat are most compelling and that can deliver results in a realistic timeframe, and also for their vision, which very much aligns with our own. They understand the power of genomics."Paul Saunders, head of innovation with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is an investor in Genomics Medicine Ireland, said the collaboration demonstrated the potential of Genomics Medicine Ireland I to drive world-class innovation in healthcare."And it provides the opportunity for Irish clinicians and researchers to advance genetic discovery and for patients to benefit from the prospective development of new therapeutics," he said.