Regeneron, Illumina join $320m Truveta investment

 Regeneron and Illumina have joined a major investment in health data specialist Truveta that will support the creation of a major new genome project.

The two companies, along with 17 US health systems, will collectively take a $320 million stake in Truveta, with Regeneron putting up the lion's share (almost $120 million), while Illumina is contributing $20 million to its Series C.

The cash injection will go towards the Truveta Genome Project, which aims to compile genetic data on tens of millions of consented and de-identified volunteers to create what will be "the largest and most diverse database of genotypic and phenotypic information ever assembled," claims the company.

It will tap into Truveta's platform – based on electronic medical record data and updated daily – which covers more than 120 million people in the US, harvesting anonymised patient care information from tens of thousands of clinical care sites across most states.

The Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) will use leftover biospecimens from routine lab tests to sequence up to ten million exomes – all of the exons in a genome that code for proteins – which, according to the biopharma company, will "accelerate drug discovery and transform patient care."

After the initial sequencing, the biospecimens will be stored to support future multi-omics sequencing studies, while Truveta and its partners will also use the data to advance drug discovery, improve clinical trials, and train artificial intelligence models.

The announcement comes hard on the heels of another population-based study involving the RGC. Last week, a major population proteomics study using UK Biobank patient samples, backed by 14 pharma companies, got underway on 600,000 patient samples.

"Just like volunteering to be an organ donor on your driver's license is a simple act of service with a profound impact, the Truveta Genome Project enables each of us to anonymously contribute to dramatically accelerate progress in discovering the science of humanity, improving the health of our families and communities, and lowering the cost of care," commented Truveta's co-founder and chief executive, Terry Myerson.

"Discoveries from smaller datasets have led to important new approaches to help prevent heart disease and restore hearing in children with certain forms of congenital deafness – it is so exciting to envision where a complete representative genomic dataset will guide us."

Regeneron said RGC will have exclusive rights to perform all research-related sequencing on samples collected under the collaboration, in addition to access to the de-identified electronic health record (HER) data provided by each of the consented study participants.

Meanwhile, Regeneron and Truveta said they plan to use the data in the development of new approaches for healthcare delivery and population health management.

"By combining Regeneron's expertise in genetics and drug development with Truveta's extensive phenotypic data and collaboration of leading US health systems, we hope to create the 'big data' that will empower the next generation of drug discovery, as well as enable new approaches to healthcare analytics and healthcare management," remarked Regeneron's chief scientific officer, George Yancopoulos.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/regeneron-illumina-join-320m-truveta-investment