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100,000 Genomes Project Halfway Completed

on Wednesday, 18 April 2018.

The groundbreaking project has already delivered some benefits to patients, while the project aims to complete by the end of 2018.

The 100,000 Genomes project is progressing rapidly and is now half-way completed. The ambitious project, which seeks to sequence 100,000 genomes as part of putting the UK at the centre of the world's plans for providing personalised medicine, has now achieved the sequencing for the first 50,000. Genomics is a key part of the UK's Life Sciences Industrial Strategy led by Professor Sir John Bell and the Government's Life Sciences Sector Deal, which were both published late last year and gave a blueprint for the future of the Life Sciences sector in the UK.

The Government claims that the 100,000 Genomes project has already delivered some benefits to participating patients. This has included giving faster diagnoses for some patients with rare diseases, and personalised treatment to some cancer patients.

Sir John Chisholm, the Executive Chairman of Genomics England, the body which is leading the 100,000 Genomes project said they are now working at scale to complete the target of the rest of the 100,000 by the end of 2018.

Comment

I was privileged to hear from Sir John at EMIG last year just after the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy was published, as well as other leading lights in the drive towards personalised and genomic medicine at a Westminster Health Forum event. There is great excitement about what can be achieved in the future through genomics and personalised medicine. Personalised medicine is an exciting revolution that we are witnessing being developed now, with the UK at the forefront. This has to be positive for the future of the life sciences sector in the UK and the recent sector strategy reports rightly highlight these opportunities.

A recurring theme is the need to work hand-in-hand with big data to unlock the knowledge arising out of the 100,000 Genomes project. We await seeing just how much benefit can be derived from this exciting new approach by maximising the use of data.


If you have any thoughts about the impact of genomics and personalised medicine, please share them with me and contact Paul Gershlick in our Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences team on 01923 919 320.

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