Viapath to help unlock the power of DNA
The South London-based Genomics Network Alliance, which is led by Guy’s and St Thomas’, was yesterday announced as a successful bidder in the race to become a pioneering Genomic Medicine Centre - part of the groundbreaking 100,000 Genomes Project.
Today’s announcement by NHS England follows the Prime Minister’s pledge earlier this year to establish the UK as a world leader in genetic research and to transform patient care by unlocking the power of DNA.
The national programme will focus on cancer and rare diseases and will enable pioneering research to decode 100,000 human genomes, a scale not seen anywhere else in the world.
Life Sciences Minister George Freeman says: “Our understanding of genomics is transforming the landscape for disease diagnosis and medicines research. We want to make the UK the best place in the world to design and discover 21st century medicines which is why we have invested in the 100,000 Genomes Project.”
The three-year project, which will begin in February 2015, could improve the prediction and prevention of disease, enable new and more precise diagnostic tests, and allow personalisation of drugs and other treatments to specific genetic variants.
The Genomics Network Alliance, which follows a successful pilot project here at Guy’s and St Thomas’, is a partnership which includes 4 NHS trusts (including Guy's and St Thomas'), 2 universities (including King's College London), 2 patient organisations (including Macmillan Cancer Support), 2 academic health science networks, and our academic health science centre (King's Health Partners).
Professor Sean Whittaker, clinical lead for the Genomics Network Alliance and consultant dermatologist at Guy's and St Thomas', says: “We look forward to helping transform clinical practice through genomics. Our partnership recognises that our ability to deliver the 100,000 Genomes Project and transform genomic diagnostics across healthcare in the South East depends on harnessing all the talents across our partner organisations."
Professor Frances Flinter, consultant clinical geneticist at Guy's and St Thomas', adds: “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to learn a lot more about the underlying causes of rare diseases and cancers. The results will lead to improved, personalised treatments for many patients and will deliver a legacy across the NHS of faster, cost effective, diagnostic genetic tests and a more highly skilled workforce.”
Viapath laboratories and scientists at both Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King College Hospital sites will support this exciting project through the extracting of patient DNA and providing diagnostic confirmation and interpretation of mutations.
Richard Jones, CEO of Viapath said “I'm delighted that the Genomics Network Alliance has been successful with this tender and that Viapath will have the opportunity to support this exciting project which has an ultimate goal of using genetic code in order to diagnose, treat and even predict future illness. We look forward to working closely with our partners to help establish the UK as a world leader in genetic research.”
