GSK unites with 23andMe amid R&D revamp
GSK revealed its new approach to research and development (R&D) earlier this week, including a partnership with DNA testing company 23andMe.
In its second quarter results, released on Wednesday, July 25, GSK explained that it would focus on science related to the immune system, the use of genetics and investments in advanced technologies.
GSK also announced a major restructuring programme which is expected to deliver annual cost savings of £400 million ($523.7 million) by 2021. These savings will be used to help fund targeted increases in R&D spending as well as support new products.
The 23andMe four-year collaboration, which has seen GSK buy a $300 million stake in the company, will focus on developing new medicines, using human genetics as the basis for discovery.
With over 5 million customers, 23andMe offers people the opportunity to learn more about their personal genetic profile. Customers can contribute their information to a database which, according to the company, is now the world’s largest genetic and phenotypic resource.
Hal Barron, chief scientific officer and president of R&D at GSK, said: “Partnering with 23andMe, an organisation whose vision and capabilities are transforming the understanding of how genes influence health, will help to shift our research and development organisation to be ‘driven by genetics’ and increase the impact GSK can have on patients.”
As part of the collaboration, the two companies will look to improve target selection to allow safer and more effective ‘precision’ medicines to be discovered.
Other R&D activities will look to support the identification of patient subgroups that are more likely to respond to targeted treatment and allow more effective identification and recruitment of patients for clinical studies.
Anne Wojcicki, CEO and co-founder of 23andMe, said: “This collaboration will enable us to deliver on what many customers have been asking for—cures or treatments for diseases.”
Late last year, GSK announced that it would invest £40 million into initiatives that harness advances in genetic research in the development of new medicines.
This investment expands GSK’s efforts to generate genetic sequencing data from health resource UK Biobank and supports the sequencing of data from all 500,000 volunteer participants, beyond the first 50,000 subset announced by the company earlier in 2017.
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