The pharmaceutical giant plans to collaborate with California-based genome company Human Longevity, a world-leading genetics company founded by genome sequencing pioneer Craig Venter, as well as two non-profit organisations to sequence the genome of 2m individuals.
The human genome, or the blueprint that makes every person unique, was first fully sequenced in 2004. This collaborative project led by Astra will be the biggest genome sequencing project ever, and goes some way to mitigating recent criticism that the pharma group is currently lacking innovation.
The genome of more than 500,000 patients from Astra's clinical trials will be sequenced using Human Longevity's technology. The genomes will then be analysed alongside clinical data from various trials to give a greater insight into the role that specific discrepancies in a person's genetic code play in various diseases. The Sangar Institute in Cambridge and The Institute of Molecular Medicine in Finland will also provide patient data to the project.
The scientific community has responded very well, with the project referred to as "highly ambitious" in a research note in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. Astra isn't the first big pharma group to attempt a project like this, though.
David Goldstein, who studies human genetics at Columbia University in New York City, told Nature that "genomicists have for decades now been promising that genomics is going to revolutionise the way that medicines are developed and the way that medicines are used". While previous efforts have been largely disappointing, genome sequencing has made huge progress in the past few years. In fact, the technology at Human Longevity adds another fully sequenced genome to its database "every 15 seconds", according to Dr Venter.
Financial terms of the collaboration are yet to be disclosed but in a media call last week, Mene Pangalos, Astra's head of innovative medicines, said the group was expecting to spend "hundreds of millions of dollars" on genomics research in the next few years. However, with a lack of any hard financial information it is tricky to draw any conclusions as to how this project will impact Astra's business (either positively or negatively).
A spokesperson from the group said the project could help the company to assess "which patients may need to enrol in certain trials and which patients would not respond to new drugs". It also has the potential to provide information for the development of novel medicines targeted towards specific diseases.
But analysts and fund managers who hold the stock have remained cautious about expressing their views at this stage and we are also remaining neutral. Hold.
