AstraZeneca joins genetics consortium

AstraZeneca has announced that it is joining forces with Genomics England to help speed up the development of new treatments under the 100,000 Genomes Project.

The pharmaceutical firm is to become part of the GENE Consortium, which is also known as the Genomics Network for Enterprises Consortium. It aims to discover new medical treatments for individuals with cancer and other diseases, allowing patients to benefit from a tailored healthcare plan.

Along with other organisations, AstraZeneca's role will be to provide funding for the research project, while it will also contribute some of its expert scientists to work towards the discovery of potentially life-saving new treatments.

Dr Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president of innovative medicines and early development at AstraZeneca, commented: "Our commitment to the 100,000 Genomes Project gives us the opportunity to work side by side with leading scientists from different disciplines to better understand how complex data coming out of the project can be converted into innovative treatments."