Pfizer and 23andMe announce genetic research collaboration

Pfizer and 23andMe have announced a new genetic data collaboration that will take advantage of 23andMe's established research platform in this field.

The agreement provides Pfizer with access to a variety of services and research portal analysis of 23andMe's genotyped population of more than 800,000 individuals, making it possible to run queries in minutes across more than 1,000 different diseases, conditions and traits.

Additionally, the companies will collaborate on certain genome-wide association studies, surveys and clinical trial recruitment. Among them will be a longitudinal study to better understand the genetics of lupus, set to be launched this year.

This comes after the partners launched an inflammatory bowel disease research initiative last year, which intends to enrol 10,000 patients. Nearly 4,000 patients have been recruited since August 2014.

Dr Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, group senior vice-president and head of biotherapeutics research and development at Pfizer, said: "The better we understand the genetic heterogeneity of complex diseases, the faster we may be able to accelerate the pace of development for potential new treatments for the right patient subpopulation."

Earlier this month, the company announced the takeover of Redvax, a deal that will provide it with access to a promising new preclinical human cytomegalovirus vaccine candidate.