AbbVie and WuXi NextCODE, a global contract genomics organization, have entered a 15-year strategic alliance to conduct population genomics research in Ireland aimed at advancing the discovery and development of new therapeutic approaches for serious diseases within oncology, neuroscience and immunology. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
The alliance will result in the sequencing of 45,000 genomes from volunteers across Ireland to seek novel insights into the biological processes that underlie complex disease. AbbVie will use the research database developed by GMI to identify new molecular approaches for drug discovery and development as well as companion diagnostics.
 
“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,” said Jim Sullivan, Ph.D., vice president, pharmaceutical discovery, AbbVie. “This alliance is an important part of our research strategy and complements our significant footprint here in Ireland.”
 
“We are very proud to be a part of delivering this pathbreaking effort,” said Hannes Smarason, COO of WuXi NextCODE. “As the leading infrastructure provider for population precision medicine projects around the world, we are committed to bringing WuXi NextCODE technology and expertise to this significant endeavor.”