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Aridhia announces expansion as it unveils digital platform in major Netherlands university medical centre

A Scottish clinical and translational informatics company has announced it is part of a consortium selected to deliver a digital research environment based on its AnalytiXagility informatics platform to one of the Netherland’s most prestigious university medical centres, with the aim of facilitating biomedical research on an unprecedented scale. The consortium, incorporating Aridhia, ICT service provider Vancis, and clinical datasets …

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NIH funds biobank to support Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program

As part of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), the National Institutes of Health will award $142 million over five years to the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, to establish the world’s largest research-cohort biobank for the PMI Cohort Program, a longitudinal research study which aims to enroll 1 million or more U.S. participants to advance precision medicine. The award will …

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HudsonAlpha Foundation establishes neurological disease research fund

Huntsville, Ala. — The HudsonAlpha Foundation has established the Memory and Mobility (M&M) Fund for neurological disease research. The M&M fund will support HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology’s current and future neurological disease research. The first project will be to sequence the genomes of 1,500 patients with Alzheimer and Alzheimer-related dementia. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to access this data set …

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Second Genome Secures $42.6 Million in Series B Financing Led by Pfizer Venture Investments and Roche Venture Fund

Financing to expand the Second Genome Microbiome Discovery Platform and accelerate the clinical development of pipeline programs  South San Francisco, Calif., April 20, 2016 – Second Genome, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines through innovative microbiome science, today announced that it has closed an oversubscribed Series B investment round with $42.6 million in financing. The round was co-led …

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Dr Belinda Quinn appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Precision Medicine Catapult

19 April 2016, Cambridge, UK – The Precision Medicine Catapult, the UK’s innovation centre for precision medicine, announces today it has appointed Dr Belinda Quinn as its new Chief Executive Officer. Belinda has been working as Chief Clinical Officer of the Precision Medicine Catapult over the past six months, formulating and landscaping Precision Medicine opportunities across the UK. She has …

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The first person to be saved by whole genome sequencing

Huntsville, Ala. — The story of a groundbreaking genomic medicine case led by HudsonAlpha researchers is now available. “One in a Billion: The Story of Nic Volker and the Dawn of Genomic Medicine” (Simon & Schuster, April 2016), follows the diagnostic odyssey of Nic Volker, the first person to be saved by whole genome sequencing. Volker, a young child suffering …

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“Liquid biopsy” blood test accurately detects key genetic mutations in most common form of lung cancer, study finds

BOSTON – A simple blood test can rapidly and accurately detect mutations in two key genes in non-small cell lung tumors, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other institutions report in a new study – demonstrating the test’s potential as a clinical tool for identifying patients who can benefit from drugs targeting those mutations. The test, known as a liquid …

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R-Biopharm AG and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany enter into collaboration on developing and launching Companion Diagnostics

Darmstadt, Germany, March 22, 2016 – R-Biopharm AG announced today it has entered into an agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to collaborate on developing companion diagnostics. The agreement constitutes the first collaboration between the two companies, covering research, development and launching of novel companion diagnostics. The project provides framework for further collaborations across a potentially wide range of therapeutic …

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£6m for Scottish Genomes Partnership

Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health, Jamie Hepburn has announced a £6 million investment in the Scottish Genomes Partnership (SGP) The SGP is a collaboration of Scottish Universities and the NHS capitalising on £15 million investment in whole genome sequencing technology by the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Scottish Government is contributing £4 million and the Medical Research …

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Findacure says it could save NHS £m with drug repurposing

2,200 babies will be born in the UK on 29th February, of which 30 will die of a rare disease before they are five years old*. UK charity Findacure believes that existing drugs may hold the key to new treatments and repurposing could save the NHS millions of pounds. Dr Richard Thompson, Scientific Officer of Findacure, says: “Only around 400 of …

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Further £250m in funding for genomics in the UK

Further £250m in funding for genomics in the UK – and cancer patients being recruited for 100K Genome Project Across England patients with cancer are now being recruited to the main phase of the 100,000 Genomes Project, giving the fight against cancer a significant boost. Minister for Life Sciences George Freeman MP announced the news at the Festival of Genomics …