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An Irish life sciences company will create 600 highly skilled jobs in Dublin over the next five years, thanks to an investment of up to 350 million euros.
This expansion will enable Genomics Medicine Ireland to accelerate plans to map the DNA fingerprint of 400,000 people in Ireland to seek better diagnoses and treatments for various diseases.
As part of this plan, GMI will become an independent subsidiary of the US company WuXi NextCode, which manufactures a technology platform for genetic sequencing.
A number of investors, including the state-supported Irish Strategic Investment Fund, will also inject funds into GMI.
"We see significant potential for creating skilled jobs and attractive business returns," said Paul Saunders, Senior Director of Investments at ISIF.
"This is therefore very much in line with net profit and the economic impact."
GMI will use the capital injection and access to WuXi NextCode's expertise to rapidly expand its entire genome sequencing program, one of the world's most important .
Its goal is to decipher the genetic blueprint of 400,000 volunteers in Ireland, representing 10% of the population, including patients with various common and rare diseases.
He then intends to use this data to discover the genetic causes of particular diseases, which could then be used to develop more accurate diagnoses and precision drugs to treat them.
"We are excited to be part of a company at the forefront of science," said Anne Jones, CEO of Genomics Medicine Ireland, who recently joined the group.
"But also the possibility of knowing what causes particular diseases and then working with pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments and diagnoses means that we will be able to help some existing patients with their treatments in the future.
"But also for their future for their families and for the Irish people, the impact on the future of health care for the country is really important."
Ireland is considered an excellent place to conduct such research because its population is relatively homogeneous, which facilitates the identification of important genes.
The size of the population here also means that there is a significant number of people with both common diseases and rare diseases.
Experts say health and medical research institutions in Ireland are a sufficiently high standard to support such research, while the population of Ireland has been willing to participate in such studies.
For a broader purpose, those behind the plan hope to position GMI as the cornerstone of a Silicon Docks-based model. International Center for Advanced Life Sciences (ICALS) in Ireland.
Sponsors believe that such a center could attract companies and researchers involved in the development of precision medicines, medical genetics services, digital health and cloud computing.
A similar ecosystem has been developed in San Diego, with 1,225 life sciences companies and 80 independent research institutes affiliated with a university, generating $ 33.6 billion for the economy and the economy. employing 37,790 people.
"We see this as something that will evolve over time," Saunders said.
"We believe that Ireland has considerable potential to develop a leading position in the European context, if it is in the global context of advanced life sciences and genomics. "
"We have the necessary skills base in the areas of pharmacy, biotechnology and technology, data science and genomics."
A total of 197 million euros will be spent on GMI in the short term, but they will rise to 350 million euros in the medium term if the milestones are achieved as GMI grows and when it grows. ICALS is growing.
ISIF will contribute to the project up to 61 million euros, alongside renowned investors, ARCH Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Temasek, Yunfeng Capital and Sequoia Capital.
WuXi NextCODE is considered the emerging global standard platform in genomics, or the study of the genetic plan that makes us all unique.
"They say that the 21st century is the century of biology and that genomics is the heart of it," said Rob Brainin, CEO of WuXi NextCODE.
"You think that 100 years ago people did blood transfusions and did not make blood groups."
"I think we're going to look back in 100 years and think about people providing individualized health care without using genomics … it's going to sound a little archaic."
Founded in 2015, GMI currently conducts genomic research on a variety of diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, brain tumors, inflammatory bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis. other rare diseases.
The DNA used in the research comes from partnerships with research institutes and clinics as well as partnerships with organizations that support patients with particular diseases.
The amount that WuXi NextCODE has paid for GMI has not been disclosed.
According to Anne Jones, consent, confidentiality and data protection around DNA samples are at the heart of her activities.
"First and foremost, we always get patients' permission when we take samples from them," she said.
"But the most important is that the samples are collected at the clinic and at the time of collection in the clinic, as the data is encrypted, so we do not have direct access to understand who the patient is .
"It's more encrypted when it comes into our organization."
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