It was announced this week that AbbVie, Genomics Medicine Ireland and WuXi NextCODE have joined forces for a 15-year research partnership, investigating therapies for chronic diseases. 
 
Genomics, a single strand of the genetics field, is an area of science enjoying a surge of activity as the digital age helps to revolutionise the act of research. As in the general wider community, Ireland itself is the home of significant interest.

So much so that a trio of parties – biopharma giant AbbVie, life sciences start-up Genomics Medicine Ireland (GMI) and WuXi NextCODE, the global contract genomics organisation – recently decided to team up.

The 15-year collaboration will focus on major chronic diseases, key to the health of both constituents in Ireland as well as the wider world.

AbbVie will use the research database developed by GMI to identify new molecular approaches for therapeutic drug discovery and development as well as to develop companion diagnostics.
 
Ireland is a hub of activity for genomics of late, thanks in part to the activities of Prof Daniel Bradley from Trinity College Dublin, who helped sequence the genome of hundreds of long-dead gladiators from the UK.

Commenting on the new alliance, AbbVie’s Jim Sullivan said, "Genomics is transforming the way we understand some of the world’s most devastating diseases and enabling the discovery of new approaches that have the potential to deliver much greater benefit to patients. This alliance is an important part of our research strategy and complements our significant footprint here in Ireland." 

Source: www.businessworld.ie