Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Department of Health’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) will develop a Phenome Centre, which will use the cutting edge facilities developed for London 2012 to help develop better and more targeted treatment for patients. With an investment of 5 million pounds over a five-year period each from MRC and NIHR, the centre will be build with expertise from London 2012 Olympic’s anti-doping facilities provided by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and operated by King’s College London.
The MRC-NIHR Phenome Centre will enable the UK to make its world-class phenotyping technology and expertise available to both researchers and the life sciences industry to accelerate the translation of medical discoveries into better healthcare. The new centre will be led by a collaboration of academic partners, led by Imperial College London, and the suppliers of nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry equipment (Bruker and Waters Corporation).
A phenome describes a person’s chemistry – all the molecules in their blood, urine or tissues – that are the result of their genetics and their lifestyle. This mixture of molecules is changing all the time and is influenced by factors such as diet, environment and even stress levels. It is linked to how a person responds to disease or to treatments such as drugs.
Researchers at the Centre will investigate the phenome patterns of patients and volunteers by analysing samples – usually blood or urine – very rapidly and on an unprecedented scale. This will help them to discover new ‘biomarkers’ to explain why one individual or population may be more susceptible to a disease than another. This knowledge will aid scientists in finding new, safer and more targeted treatments. Phenome analysis has already been used to ‘tailor’ cancer treatment to suit individual patients by, for example, minimising the toxicity and maximising the efficiency of drug treatments for colon cancer.
Professor Sir John Savill, CEO, MRC, said, “The UK has an extremely strong life sciences capability and world-class expertise in this area of research. The GSK drug-testing facility at Harlow has taken one of the major challenges associated with this type of research – achieving high-throughput alongside forensic quality control – to a new level, unprecedented anywhere in the world. Rather than losing this investment once the Games are over the collaboration – involving the MRC, NIHR, UK universities, the NHS and NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, and industry leaders in the field – will provide a unique resource that will ultimately result in benefits for patients. This is a phenomenal legacy from the Games.”
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the official laboratory services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games. Through a groundbreaking partnership with King’s College London, GSK is providing the facilities and equipment to enable expert analysts from King’s to independently operate a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory during the London 2012 Games. The laboratory in Harlow will see more tests carried out than at any other Games, with every medallist who steps on the podium and up to 50 per cent of all athletes being tested.
Patrick Vallance, President, Pharmaceuticals R&D at GlaxoSmithKline, “Providing our laboratory facilities to this research collaboration allows GlaxoSmithKline to support cutting edge research. As a global pharma company with strong roots in the UK, we are committed to ensuring Britain retains a leading position in the life sciences. The MRC-NIHR Phenome Centre will deliver world-class science through collaboration between research institutes, academia and industry – an approach GSK believes is crucial to driving scientific innovation.”
Dr Rohit Khanna, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Waters Corporation, said: “Waters is proud to be part of this first-of-a-kind research centre and the opportunity to work with such distinguished partners in support of our mission: to develop technology that allows science to provide answers to the critical challenges we face. This centre is a significant advancement for the science of phenome-typing, enabled by a powerful partnership of leading academic institutions, government and companies like ours providing the latest innovations. We fully expect this centre will multiply our understanding of disease and help us to improve the health of populations around the world.”
EP News Bureau
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