Roche invests in Spanish genome project
pharmafile | November 27, 2009 | News story | Research and Development | Roche, Spain, genomics
Roche is investing in a Spanish health authority programme to analyse the genomes of people with rare diseases.
The pharma company will give 4 million euros to the Department of Health of Junta de Andalucía’s Medical Genome Project.
Due to start next year in Seville and run to 2013, it has been set up to identify the defective genes causing potentially thousands of conditions.
For its money, Roche gets the right of first refusal on any licence which could arise from discoveries made in the project’s work.
“Roche is committed to personalised healthcare based on the scientific advances that have been made over the last decade in regard to the genetic and molecular basis of diseases,” said Roche diagnostics division chief executive Juergen Schwiezer.
The first phase of the research will seek to define what it describes as “the whole variability of human genes”, working with about 300 DNA samples.
Each of these can contain up to 26,000 different genes and once their variations have been established, they will be compared with the genetic alterations seen in rare diseases.
It is hoped that this work will identify the causal genes in each case.
The last phase of the project will look at how to develop specific therapies for genetic-based diseases, using these molecular findings to better target medicines.
The research will take place in Seville’s scientific and technical campus called Cartuja 93, led by Professor Shomi Bhattacharya and Dr Guillermo Antiñolo of the Andalusian Genetic Plan.
Dr Joaquín Dopazo, associate director of bioinformatics in the Andalusian Programme for Genetic Research and Genomics, is the third leader of the team.
Genetic research is looked upon by the pharma industry as a potentially lucrative area of collaboration.
The Human Genome Project, begun in 1990, found that human beings contain around 24,000 genes.
Understanding how they work could hold the key to diagnosing, treating and even preventing disease.
For pharma companies, identifying the full genome sequence could point the way to finding novel drugs.
Related Content
Roche receives CE Mark for blood test to help rule out Alzheimer’s
Roche has been granted CE Mark approval for its Elecsys pTau181 test, the first in …
Roche candidate shows early promise for treating haemophilia A
Roche has announced encouraging early results from its phase 1/2 trial of NXT007, an investigational …
Roche advances treatment for Parkinson’s disease
Swiss biopharma, Roche, has announced its decision to proceed with phase 3 trials of prasinezumab, …
