Why is the UK the perfect genomics partner?

Genomics is rapidly changing the future of medicine. It has already had a great impact on lives and continues to improve health outcomes globally. Genomics provides an incredible opportunity to achieve faster, accurate diagnosis, and has driven a revolutionary shift toward precision and personalised medicine, meaning better, more targeted treatments for patients with diseases such as cancer, obesity and?cardiovascular disease.

The UK has long been a world leader in this area, from the discovery of the structure of DNA, almost 70 years ago.?The twisted-ladder structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by James Watson and Francis Crick, through to our contribution to the Global Human Genome Project, to the delivery of the 100,000 Genomes Project in 2018, the UK remains at the forefront of genomics research.

Collaborative innovation ecosystem

The last 20 months has shone a spotlight on the UK’s rapidly growing genomics industry, which is today worth over ￡5 billion. It raised 34% of the wider UK life sciences sector’s total investment, according to the Genomics Nation report.[1]

One of the key strengths of the UK is the vibrant and collaborative innovation ecosystem it has nurtured. The UK genomics sector is home to a thriving community of pioneering start-ups and SMEs, renowned academics, world-leading research institutes and unique data resources such as the UK-Biobank, Genomics-England, and the NHS. ?

Exciting partnerships in place

Generating large amounts of biomedical data has become relatively straightforward. The real challenge is how organisations access and use data stored across multiple locations. One company who has seized the challenge is Lifebit. Lifebit’s patented, federated technology is enabling better data connectivity by bringing the researcher's analysis and computation to where sensitive data resides, instead of moving it around.

A further example is the partnership between?Genomics- England, GenOMICC,?Illumina?and the NHS. This consortium is the driving force behind a major new human whole genome sequencing study taking place across the NHS to help scientists understand whether a person’s genetics may influence their susceptibility to COVID-19.?By using @Lifebit's?technology this data is securely analysable by external researchers.

Another exciting project I would like to highlight is one being supported by the?Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)?is the?@Genomics-UK-consortium, an innovative partnership of NHS organisations, the four Public Health Agencies of the UK, the?@Wellcome-Sanger-Institute?and more than 12 academic institutions, working together to provide sequencing and analysis capacity.?By the end of April 2021, COG-UK had sequenced more than 450,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, enabling the tracking and analysis of viral variants.

The unique partnership between?@Amgen,?@AstraZeneca,?@GlaxoSmithKline?(GSK) and?@Johnson-&-Johnson, alongside?@Wellcome-Trust?and?@UK-Research-and-Innovation, has resulted in the completion of the first 200,000 whole genome sequencing. Sequencing has been carried out by?@deCODE-Genetics?and the?@Wellcome-Sanger-Institute?and is available to global researchers through the recently launched Research Analysis Platform.

The success of all of these endeavours is underpinned by the partnership between government, public health, research and the UK’s NHS, which together constitute the tremendous appeal of the UK genomics ecosystem.?

The UK’s Genomics offer to Turkey

One of the recent successes in Turkey, particularly in genomics, is Congenica stepping up its commercial push in Turkey. This Cambridge UK-based digital health company, which enables rapid and accurate analysis of complex genomic data to transform people’s lives, has signed a new distribution agreement with ATC Healthcare in Turkey as its main distributor in the country. The agreement marks the entry of Congenica’s clinical decision support software into the country.

In November 2019, the Governments of the UK and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding to boost partnerships between our two countries by establishing the UK-Turkey Healthcare Business Forum.

This week, brought together thought-leaders from government and business, featuring keynote speeches, panel discussions and presentations in multiple areas of healthcare. This was an opportunity and a real desire for both sides to learn about how to collaborate and meet with potential partners.

Most countries worldwide are facing the same challenges, the same drivers, and constraints. By partnering, the UK aims to go forward faster and more safely, overcoming challenges and discovering opportunities.

By working together, we can help shape the future of personalised medicine and the lives of people.