TARRYTOWN, N.Y., March 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN), today
announced a major research initiative among the Regeneron Genetics
Center (RGC), U.K. Biobank and GSK to generate genetic sequence
data from the 500,000 volunteer participants in the U.K. Biobank
resource. The initiative will enable researchers to
gain valuable insights to support advances in the development of
new medicines for a wide range of serious and life threatening
diseases.
Genetic evidence has revolutionized scientific
discovery and drug development in recent years by providing clear
links between genes and disease. Currently, an estimated 90% of
potential medicines entering clinical trials fail to demonstrate
the necessary efficacy and safety, and never reach patients. Many
of these failures are due to an incomplete understanding of the
link between the biological target of a drug and human disease. By
contrast, medicines developed with human genetic evidence have had
substantially higher success rates and patient care has
benefited.
U.K. Biobank is the world's most comprehensive health
resource. It has been collecting information and
samples from its 500,000 participants for the past ten years, and
ensures that data provided to health researchers does not identify
them. RGC and GSK have committed an initial investment
to enable the sequencing of the first 50,000
samples, to be completed before the end of 2017. Sequencing
of U.K. Biobank's samples will be performed at the RGC
facility, one of the world's largest human genetics
sequencing centers. Sequencing of the full 500,000 samples in U.K.
Biobank is expected to take three to five years.
Consistent with the founding principles of U.K. Biobank,
these sequence data will be incorporated back into U.K. Biobank's
resource following a standard exclusivity period for GSK and
Regeneron (9 months for the initial phase) and made openly
available to the broader scientific community.
Research findings will also be submitted for publication in
peer-reviewed journals.
"As a result of the altruism and continued support of our
volunteer participants, U.K. Biobank has amassed an
enormous amount of securely-stored health, lifestyle,
medical and biological data. Genetics research is already shaping
better treatments. This exciting initiative is expected to start
producing novel findings rapidly during this year and will make
U.K. Biobank even more useful for health-related research," said
Sir Rory Collins, U.K. Biobank
Principal Investigator and BHF Professor of Medicine &
Epidemiology at Oxford University.
"U.K. Government and charity medical research funders have invested
about £200 million in U.K. Biobank. The costs of gene sequencing
are falling, but doing it on a large scale involves
highly-specialized capabilities and is expensive – with an
estimated cost of $150 million if all
500,000 participants are sequenced. That is why academia and
industry working together is so important. The initial investment
by GSK and Regeneron will be a tremendous boost to the value of the
U.K. Biobank resource for academic and industry researchers around
the world, studying many different conditions."
The RGC has previously sequenced DNA samples from more
than 150,000 individuals and is now sequencing at a rate exceeding
150,000 individuals per year. The center has successfully applied
large-scale human genetics to discover new drug targets and
validate existing development programs, and has collaborated with
more than 35 institutions around the world.
"Our large-scale sequencing and analysis capabilities,
coupled with U.K. Biobank's vast trove of de-identified biological
and medical information, pose tremendous opportunities for
clinically meaningful discoveries that can make a difference for
patients," said George D Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., President and
Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron. "We have long recognized
that advancing the pace and clinical utility of human genetics
research requires collaboration and an open exchange of data
between industry, academia and public health groups, and we are
pleased to expand upon our existing foundational research
collaborations through this effort with the U.K. Biobank and GSK.
For Regeneron, we believe this initiative will greatly enhance our
existing efforts in gene discovery and genetics-guided drug
development."
GSK has significant expertise in genomics and is
increasingly incorporating the almost daily advances in this
scientific field into its drug research programs. A dedicated team
of scientists focus on identifying new opportunities for drug
discovery based on genetically-validated drug targets, working
across the Company's R&D organization, and through major
external collaborations. GSK's 'Open Targets' collaboration with
the European Bioinformatics Institute, the Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute and Biogen includes an open access research platform,
which makes genetic and biological data openly available to support
drug discovery. Over 60% of the targets selected for
new GSK drug discovery programs in 2016 are supported by human
genetic evidence.
"I believe that we are in a new era of drug discovery
because of a fundamental change in our understanding of human
biology, driven largely by advances in human genetics. U.K. Biobank
is one of the most important health resources available to
scientists today, offering a rich source of information about
health and disease," said Patrick
Vallance, President, R&D at GSK. "Having been
actively involved in U.K. Biobank as a board member since 2013, I'm
delighted that, through our collaboration with Regeneron, we can
enrich this resource for the wider scientific community and also
provide potential new opportunities for companies such as ours to
develop new medicines for patients. It demonstrates
how important the U.K. is as a center for innovative research. GSK
is committed to ensuring that the U.K. continues to be an
environment that fosters collaboration and supports end-to-end
scientific progress, ranging from cutting-edge genomics to the
rapid uptake of new approaches and medicines by the NHS, which can
ultimately benefit patients."
About U.K. Biobank
U.K. Biobank is
the most comprehensive resource of its kind in the world. Its
500,000 participants have provided information about their health,
well-being and lifestyle, as well as blood and other biological
samples for long-term storage and analysis. In addition, they have
agreed to have their health followed through medical records for
many years. Scientists from around the world are able to use the
resource for research intended to improve the prevention and
treatment of a wide range of common disorders.
U.K. Biobank is funded by the Medical Research Council,
Wellcome Trust, Department of Health, Welsh Government, Scottish
Government, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research U.K. and
Diabetes U.K.
About GSK
GSK – one of the world's
leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is
committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people
to do more, feel better and live longer. For further
information please visit
www.gsk.com.
About the Regeneron Genetics
Center
The Regeneron Genetics Center LLC (RGC)
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The
RGC is a fully integrated genomics program that spans early gene
discovery and functional genomics and facilitates drug development.
The primary goal of the RGC is to improve patient outcomes by
identifying novel drug targets, clinical indications for
development programs, and genomic biomarkers for pharmacogenomic
applications. The RGC has developed capabilities across various
sequencing and analytical approaches and has established numerous
collaborations with leading human genetics researchers. To enable
this large-scale sequencing and analysis program, the RGC utilizes
fully-automated sample preparation and data processing, as well as
cutting-edge cloud-based informatics. The RGC has sequenced
de-identified DNA from more than 150,000 individuals to date and is
now sequencing at a rate of greater than 150,000 individuals per
year.
About Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,
Inc.
Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) is a leading
science-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, invents,
develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines for the
treatment of serious medical conditions. Regeneron commercializes
medicines for eye diseases, high LDL cholesterol and a rare
inflammatory condition and has product candidates in development in
other areas of high unmet medical need, including rheumatoid
arthritis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, pain, cancer and infectious
diseases. For additional information about the company, please
visit www.regeneron.com or follow
@Regeneron on Twitter.
Regeneron Forward-Looking Statements and Use of
Digital Media
This press release
includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties relating to future events and the future performance
of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Regeneron" or the "Company"),
and actual events or results may differ materially from these
forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipate," "expect,"
"intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," variations of such
words and similar expressions are intended to identify such
forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking
statements contain these identifying words. These statements
concern, and these risks and uncertainties include, among others,
the nature, timing, and possible success and therapeutic
applications of Regeneron's products, product candidates, and
research and clinical programs now underway or planned, including
without limitation the use of human genetics in Regeneron's
research; the extent to which the results from Regeneron's research
programs (such as the collaboration between the Regeneron Genetics
Center, U.K. Biobank and GSK discussed in this news release) or
preclinical testing may lead to advancement of product candidates
to clinical trials or therapeutic applications; ongoing regulatory
obligations and oversight impacting Regeneron's research and
clinical programs, marketed products, and business, including those
relating to patient privacy and genetic information; unforeseen
safety issues resulting from the administration of products and
product candidates in patients, including serious complications or
side effects in connection with the use of Regeneron's product
candidates in clinical trials; the likelihood and timing of
possible regulatory approval and commercial launch of Regeneron's
late-stage product candidates and new indications for marketed
products; determinations by regulatory and administrative
governmental authorities which may delay or restrict Regeneron's
ability to continue to develop or commercialize Regeneron's
products and product candidates; competing drugs and product
candidates that may be superior to Regeneron's products and product
candidates; uncertainty of market acceptance and commercial success
of Regeneron's products and product candidates; the ability of
Regeneron to manufacture and manage supply chains for multiple
products and product candidates; coverage and reimbursement
determinations by third-party payers, including Medicare and
Medicaid; unanticipated expenses; the costs of developing,
producing, and selling products; the ability of Regeneron to meet
any of its sales or other financial projections or guidance and
changes to the assumptions underlying those projections or
guidance; the potential for any license or collaboration agreement,
including Regeneron's agreements with Sanofi and Bayer HealthCare
LLC (or their respective affiliated companies, as applicable), to
be cancelled or terminated without any further product success; and
risks associated with third party intellectual property and pending
or future litigation relating thereto. A more complete description
of these and other material risks can be found in Regeneron's
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including
its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016. Any forward-looking
statements are made based on management's current beliefs and
judgment, and the reader is cautioned not to rely on any
forward-looking statements made by Regeneron. Regeneron does not
undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking
statement, including without limitation any financial projection or
guidance, whether as a result of new information, future events, or
otherwise.
Regeneron uses its media and investor relations website
and social media outlets to publish important information about the
Company, including information that may be deemed material to
investors. Financial and other information about Regeneron is
routinely posted and is accessible on Regeneron's media and
investor relations website
(http://newsroom.regeneron.com)
and its Twitter feed
(http://twitter.com/regeneron).
Contacts Regeneron:
|
|
Media Relations
|
Investor
Relations
|
Danielle Damiano
|
Manisha
Narasimhan, Ph.D.
|
Tel: +1 (914) 847-1411
|
Tel: +1 (914) 847-5126
|
danielle.damiano@regeneron.com
|
manisha.narasimhan@regeneron.com
|
|
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Contacts GSK:
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Media Relations
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David Daley
|
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Sarah
Macleod
|
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Tel: +44 20 8047
5502
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david.t.daley@gsk.com
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sarah.k.macleod@gsk.com
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|
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Contact U.K. Biobank:
|
|
Media
Relations
|
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Andrew Trehearne
|
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Tel: +44 1865
743960
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Mobile: +44 7979
940972
|
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Andrew.Trehearne@ukbiobank.ac.uk
|
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uk-biobank-regeneron-and-gsk-announce-largest-gene-sequencing-initiative-on-worlds-most-detailed-health-database-to-improve-drug-discovery-and-disease-diagnosis-300427914.html
SOURCE Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.