Seqera Labs Joins Forces with Genomics England to Boost Genomic Medicine Research

Seqera Labs, recognized for its secure workflow orchestration software in the life sciences domain, is aligning forces with Genomics England, a government-owned entity, which initiated the notable 100,000 Genomes Project in alliance with the NHS. This collaboration aims to enhance the scope and proficiency of whole genome analysis, paving the way for a broader patient base to avail genomic healthcare benefits.

Genomics England aims to equip researchers with a larger dataset, aiding in disease cause determination and the development of new treatments. Genomics England's efforts in genomic healthcare have already seen traction in the field. Their collaboration with the NHS on whole genome sequencing for patients with rare diseases and cancer contributes to the UK’s position as a leader in life sciences. The obtained data is stored in the National Genomic Research Library,  a secure research environment that allows approved researchers to tap into these insights for therapeutic and diagnostic innovation.

Seqera Labs' role in this partnership will be to increase Genomics England's ability to build models for disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment response. To accomplish this, Genomics England will utilize Seqera Labs' Nextflow Tower, a centralised command post designed for large-scale collaborative data analysis. With this tool, Genomics England can expediently launch, manage, and monitor scalable data analysis pipelines in the cloud.

Genomics England's Senior Product Manager, Edwin Clark, discussed their vision of a world where everyone can have access to genomic healthcare. He emphasized the organization's ongoing efforts, a decade after the 100,000 Genomes Project, to utilize genomic medicine potential, thereby delivering benefits in diagnosis, treatment, and care for those living with rare conditions and cancer. Seqera Labs' platform, as part of Genomics England's system for population-scale genomic analysis, is expected to hasten pipeline development and offer support for hybrid compute environments.

This partnership comes at a time when demand for personalised medicine, particularly in cancer treatment, is on the rise. The role of genomic medicine in providing life-saving therapeutics faster and more efficiently than ever is underlined by the significant progress in UK genomic research. Notably, market size of genomic medicine is predicted to reach USD 62.9 billion by 2028, indicating its potential to revolutionize numerous healthcare sectors.

Evan Floden, Founder and CEO of Seqera Labs, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership with Genomics England. The goal, according to him, is to provide technology that streamlines budgets and allows resources to be reinvested into improving patient treatment, a critical necessity amid stretched budgets and the health sector's recovery from Covid-19 disruptions.

With this partnership, Seqera Labs and Genomics England together aim to streamline the genomic data analysis process, thereby accelerating research outputs and ultimately benefiting patient care.

Topics: Emerging Technologies