AstraZeneca unveils new integrated genomics initiative

AstraZeneca has detailed a new approach to integrated genomics that will aid its efforts to research and develop new drugs.

The new initiative, which will also incorporate the work done by the company's biologics research and development arm MedImmune, will help to deliver novel disease insights, identify new medicine targets and facilitate the selection of patients for new studies and treatments.

It will incorporate several collaborations with key partners from the life sciences sector. For example, AstraZeneca will share up to 500,000 DNA samples with Human Longevity for analysis, while establishing a joint research team with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge.

Additionally, the firm will work with the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Finland to study genes of interest in the Finnish population, who carry a higher-than-normal frequency of rare variants.

An in-house Centre for Genomics Research is also set to be established to create a bespoke database of genome sequences from samples donated by patients in AstraZeneca's clinical trials.