Illumina in collaboration with Nashville Biosciences, has announced the five founding members of the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD). Member organisations AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, and Merck have joined the multiyear agreement aiming to accelerate development of therapeutics through large-scale genomics and the establishment of a preeminent clinical genomic resource.
The five companies will jointly co-fund the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 250,000 samples and have access to the resulting data for use in drug discovery and therapeutic development.
"We are thrilled to welcome these esteemed companies as the founding cohort in the Alliance for Genomic Discovery," said Joydeep Goswami, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy And Corporate Development Officer of Illumina. "Together, we aim to advance genomics and multiomics-based methods for finding therapeutic targets that are more actionable in the treatment and curing of diseases, while also improving the speed, probability of success, and efficiency of the discovery and development process."
The AGD supports a turnkey project leveraging Illumina’s next-generation sequencing and analysis platforms to help identify disease associations and targets for intervention by analysing WGS data derived from VUMC's extensive, high-quality biobank of more than 250,000 de-identified human DNA samples and associated clinical data.
"Collaborations like the Alliance are fundamental to answering the pressing questions in human biology and disease, unlocking the potential for discovery of more effective therapeutics and diagnostics," said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) which owns Nashville Biosciences. "VUMC and Nashville Biosciences are honoured to support our industry partners in this groundbreaking endeavour."
Following the announcement, deCODE genetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen, will sequence the remaining samples for the Alliance. In January 2023, as the first phase in the AGD, Illumina and Nashville Biosciences announced an agreement with Amgen for deCODE genetics to perform WGS on the first 35,000 VUMC samples, primarily made up of DNA from individuals of African ancestry. The lack of diversity in genomic data has created a gap in the scientific understanding of the underlying genetic causes of many diseases and has inhibited equitable access to precision health therapies. Through its collaborative work, the Alliance seeks to advance the understanding of these disparities.
Launched in 2022, the Alliance for Genomic Discovery is a multiyear project aiming to accelerate development of therapeutics through large-scale genomics and the establishment of a preeminent clinical genomic resource. One of the main objectives of the Alliance is to help narrow the gap in the diversity of genomic data, and ultimately work toward a more equitable representation of ancestries in genetic research.
