Genomes Project gains £300m UK funding boost
pharmafile | August 1, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Genomics england, Illumina, NHS England, david cameron, genomes
A new funding stream aimed at helping British scientists map human DNA code will ‘revolutionise medicine’, according to prime minister David Cameron.
Announcing the plans today, Cameron says the 100,000 Genomes Project, funded by a package of deals now worth £300 million, will “see the UK lead the world in genetic research within year”.
It was first announced a year ago by the prime minster with an initial £100 million in funding from the government.
Releasing more details, Cameron says the project will sequence the genetic codes of about 75,000 patients with cancer and rare diseases, and those of their close relatives. Both the healthy and the tumour cells of the cancer patients will also be mapped, meaning about 100,000 will be sequenced in total.
Cameron says: “I am determined to do all I can to support the health and scientific sector to unlock the power of DNA, turning an important scientific breakthrough into something that will help deliver better tests, better drugs and above all better care for patients.
“As our plan becomes a reality, I believe we will be able to transform how devastating diseases are diagnosed and treated in the NHS and across the world, while supporting our best scientists and life science businesses to discover the next wonder drug or breakthrough technology.”
Scientists hope that identifying minute changes in the genetic code that can trigger disease will allow for personalised and more effective treatments, such as the new types of oncology medicines being developed by the pharma industry.
It comes after research of the 10 years has shown that conditions such as cancer should no longer be seen as one disease, but rather hundreds of diseases, all with unique mutations, biomarkers and drug targets.
DNA samples have already been donated by a few hundred participants in a pilot, and about 10,000 are expected to have donated by the end of the year. The project is expected to be completed by 2017.
Among the cancers due to be targeted are bowel, breast, leukaemia, lung, ovarian, prostate and leukaemia. Some experts believe that it will lead to targeted therapies and could make chemotherapy a thing of the past.
The four-year 100,000 genomes project, which is being run by the NHS-owned Genomics England, is aiming to make such breakthroughs on a large scale.
Pilots have been set up at centres across England – including sites in Newcastle, Cambridge and London – and the first genome was sequenced on 30 May this year.
The project has passed the 100 mark, with the aim of reaching 1,000 by the end of the year and 10,000 by the end of 2015.
Last month biotech firm Illumina was picked to help run the project with Genomics England, alongside its chief scientist be Professor Mark Caulfield, a NIHR senior investigator at the Queen Mary University of London and the Barts National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Unit.
Ben Adams
Related Content
NICE recommends treatment for rare genetic eye disorder
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final draft guidance recommending …
Defining neighbourhood working: big picture or local lens?
In the first of the Gateway to Local Adoption series, Visions4Health caught up with Dr Nick Merrifield …
NHS ConfedExpo 2025: a platform for change in UK health and care
This year’s NHS ConfedExpo took place on 11 to 12 June at Manchester Central, bringing …
