on revenue alone. This has attracted innovative companies onto Campus, for example Genomics England and Health Data Research UK have strategically chosen to co-locate here. Residing on Campus lowers their barriers to accessing the brightest and the best in genomics and biodata research. Pharmaceutical companies also have chosen to work closely with us: Open Targets, for example, is a target validation platform developed in partnership with several pharmaceutical companies. Open Targets aims create more effective drugs by applying state of the art genomic and analytic approaches to validating new avenues for therapeutic intervention. The partnership brings together expertise from seven complimentary organisations, drawing on the diverse sets of skill, backgrounds, evidence and types of technologies that each of them brings. Open Targets is committed to openly sharing their platform and data with the global scientific community via opentargets.org Alongside the institutes, our BioData Innovation Centre hosts innovative genomics and bioinformatics companies who share our passion for exploring applications of genomics. Examples of companies present on Campus include SciBite- a data and software company with a mission to computationally unlock the potential of scientific literature and Congenica- a Sanger spin-out, using genomic data to aid clinical decision making thus helping to improving patient care and experience. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, as scientists we gain from industry-led applied insights, and industrial partners come to us for early competitive insight into emerging areas of science. In the fast moving field of genomics, and its ever increasing pace of technological evolution, opportunities can pass quickly- by the time you are reading the news, it’s probably already history.
upon knowledge-sharing, mutual gain and collaboration. Our chosen unique approach to clustering world-class expertise in the niche field of genomics and bioinformatics, sets a clear direction and allows us to propel scientific discovery forwards, whilst keeping pace with the technological revolution happening all around us. For more than 25 years the Campus has made vital contributions to the understanding of human biology. We were the single largest contributor to the Human Genome Project, and have sequenced over 50,000 individuals in the UK Biobank. We plan to sequence a further 225,000 making the Sanger Institute the majority contributor to a world-leading effort. Our other projects include the Deciphering Developmental Disorders programme that has provided diagnoses for over 4,500 people with rare diseases who would otherwise never know what caused their illness. This is only possible because we have the critical mass of skills, infrastructure and strategic focus to deliver.
T h e f u t u r e o f h e a lt h c a r e
Globally, the importance of genomic technologies for human health is generating exceptional enthusiasm and expectation. The UK government, in particular, recognises the importance
that genomics, and associated new technologies will play in improving patient care. The NHS Genomic Medicine Service plans to expand on existing programmes such as the 100,000 Genomes Project, led by Genomics England, by sequencing 1 million whole genomes from UK Biobank in the next five years. Furthermore, from 2019, seriously ill children and adults with certain rare diseases or hard to treat cancers, will be offered whole genome sequencing as part of their care. The Wellcome Genome Campus and its community are looking forward to leading the next 25 years of impactful discovery and bringing more of our science to the clinic for the benefit of all. â–
For further information, please visit: www.wellcomegenomecampus.org
C r i t ic a l m a s s o f e x p e rt i s e a nd f o c u s
Companies looking to maintain a competitive edge benefit from free association with academia and vice versa. A key function of the Campus is maintaining and supporting interactions between academia and industry, helping to create an innovative ecosystem built
R e a d o n l i n e at: u k s pa . o r g . u k / b r e a k t h r o u g h
The Wellcome Genome Campus
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