Alexion and Sema4 Partner in Rare Disease Diagnostics and Systems Biology
August 10 2017 - 6:30AM
Business Wire
Accelerating rare-disease diagnostics and
treatments through innovation
Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) and Sema4 today
announced a strategic partnership to leverage their shared
experience in data science and systems biology to accelerate rare
disease diagnosis and therapeutic discovery. This new partnership
will combine Alexion’s rare disease SmartPanel analytics with
Sema4’s proven success in next-generation sequencing and genomic
interpretation to further enable novel diagnostic and therapeutic
insights into rare diseases.
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View the full release here:
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“The world-class sequencing capabilities at Sema4 coupled with
Alexion’s SmartPanel analytics will enable a comprehensive
evaluation of a patient’s genome to uncover pathogenic mutations
linked to rare diseases,” said John Reynders, PhD, Vice President
of Data Sciences, Genomics, and Bioinformatics at Alexion. “This
collaboration will help accelerate an accurate diagnosis for
patients with rare genetic diseases and reduce the multi-year
process that many families face before receiving a diagnosis.”
Alexion and Sema4 will also collaborate in searching for and
decoding rare disease “genomic shields” – a buffering mechanism
that enables patients with a known disease-causing mutation in
their genome to resist the manifestation of the disease.
“The advanced data science and bioinformatics capabilities that
Alexion and Sema4 both bring to the table will enable us to decode
these unique patients who are resistant to their genetic propensity
for disease,” said Sema4 CEO, Eric Schadt, PhD. “By building
systems biology models of the rare disease biology in these
patients, we can identify novel points of therapeutic intervention
for patients.”
Under the partnership, Alexion will share, research, and further
refine the SmartPanel, which Sema4 will leverage to optimize the
design of next-generation sequencing solutions and accelerate the
interpretation of genomic and phenotypic data. Both parties will
combine expertise in data science and bioinformatics to decode the
network biology of target systems and research the decoding of
genomic shields.
About Alexion
Alexion is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on
developing and delivering life-transforming therapies for patients
with devastating and rare disorders. Alexion is the global leader
in complement inhibition and has developed and commercializes the
first and only approved complement inhibitor to treat patients with
paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and atypical hemolytic
uremic syndrome (aHUS), two life-threatening ultra-rare disorders.
In addition, Alexion’s metabolic franchise includes two highly
innovative enzyme replacement therapies for patients with
life-threatening and ultra-rare disorders, hypophosphatasia (HPP)
and lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LAL-D). Alexion is advancing
its rare disease pipeline with highly innovative product candidates
in multiple therapeutic areas. This press release and further
information about Alexion can be found at: www.alexion.com.
[ALXN-G]
About Sema4
Sema4 is a health information company that is committed to
providing open access to data and creating practical tools that
help patients, clinicians, and researchers better diagnose, treat,
and prevent disease. Sema4 is constructing a more
comprehensive picture of health by combining a wealth of clinical
experience that informs the answers that patients and providers are
seeking, the world-class academic research that illuminates new
directions, and the pioneering information science that puts all
the pieces together. Sema4 is a venture of the Mount Sinai Health
System, an integrated health system that is internationally
recognized for its excellence in research, patient care, and
education.
For more information, please visit sema4genomics.com and connect
with Sema4 on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including statements related to Alexion's diagnostic initiatives.
Forward-looking statements are subject to factors that may cause
Alexion's results and plans to differ from those expected,
including for example, decisions of regulatory authorities
regarding the adequacy of our research, marketing approval or
material limitations on the marketing of our products, delays,
interruptions or failures in the manufacture and supply of our
products and our product candidates, failure to satisfactorily
address matters raised by the FDA and other regulatory agencies,
the possibility that results of clinical trials are not predictive
of safety and efficacy results of our products in broader patient
populations, the possibility that current rates of adoption of
Soliris in PNH, aHUS or other diseases are not sustained, the
possibility that clinical trials of our product candidates could be
delayed, the adequacy of our pharmacovigilance and drug safety
reporting processes, the risk that third party payors (including
governmental agencies) will not reimburse or continue to reimburse
for the use of our products at acceptable rates or at all, the
outcome of challenges and opposition proceedings to our
intellectual property, assertion or potential assertion by third
parties that the manufacture, use or sale of our products infringes
their intellectual property, risks regarding government
investigations, including investigations of Alexion by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. Department of
Justice, the risk that anticipated regulatory filings are delayed,
the risk that estimates regarding the number of patients with PNH,
aHUS, HPP and LAL-D are inaccurate, the risks of changing foreign
exchange rates, and a variety of other risks set forth from time to
time in Alexion's filings with the SEC, including but not limited
to the risks discussed in Alexion's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the period ended June 30, 2017 and in our other filings with
the SEC. Alexion does not intend to update any of these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after
the date hereof, except when a duty arises under law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170810005327/en/
Alexion:Kim Diamond, 475-230-3775Executive Director, Corporate
CommunicationsorSema4:Rose Lewis, 646-385-4035Director of Public
Relationsmedia@sema4genomics.com
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