{"id":665,"date":"2019-06-11T09:01:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T13:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/?p=665"},"modified":"2020-12-26T23:57:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T04:57:19","slug":"emdserono-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nebula.org\/blog\/emdserono-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"A new collaboration and our vision for the future of genomics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A pilot project with EMD Serono<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Today, we are excited to announce a collaboration with EMD Serono<\/a>, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in the U.S. and Canada<\/a>. We are starting a pilot project, the goal of which is to help EMD Serono to enhance its research efforts by supporting its scientists as they develop potential new medicines, using Nebula\u2019s database of anonymized genomic data to better understand the causes of diseases.<\/p>\n

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This collaboration has significant potential in accelerating scientific discovery and drug development for the benefit of patients. We are currently looking for lung cancer patients and offering a free high-coverage germline and tumor whole-genome sequencing. Importantly, we will give patients full access to their genomic data so that it can potentially be used to make better treatment choices. If you are interested in this study, please sign in and complete a survey<\/strong><\/a> (otherwise sign up first<\/a>) that will determine if you fulfill the participation requirements.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

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Towards free personal genome sequencing<\/strong><\/p>\n

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When we launched Nebula Genomics last year, we announced our goal to make personal genome sequencing free<\/a>. Since then we provided low-coverage whole-genome sequencing to hundreds of people free of charge. In order to offer free sequencing to even more people, in particular, the more expensive high-coverage whole-genome sequencing, we have established collaborations with pharma and biotech companies that will sponsor sequencing in exchange for access to genomic data. Our collaboration with EMD Serono is the first validation of our model for sponsored sequencing.<\/p>\n

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While pharma and biotech companies are particularly interested in genomic data of cancer and rare disease patients, we believe that sponsored sequencing can also be made available to apparently healthy individuals. This has already been demonstrated by several large population genetics initiatives. For example, the currently ongoing sequencing of 500,000 samples collected by the UK Biobank is being sponsored by a consortium of pharma and biotech companies including Regeneron, AbbVie, Alnylam, AstraZeneca, Biogen, and Pfizer. We believe that as the cost of whole-genome sequencing continues to decrease, sponsored sequencing of large cohorts of healthy individuals will become increasingly common.<\/p>\n

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A universal platform for genetic research<\/strong><\/p>\n

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At Nebula Genomics, we are building a platform that connects patients and consumers with researchers and incentivizes data sharing by ensuring equitable compensation, transparency, and security. Our platform can be used to gain data from various kinds of genetic studies<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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