Illumina, Inc. and Nashville Biosciences, LLC Announce New Proteomics Data Offering and Expansion of Alliance for Genomic Discovery Dataset

Illumina, Inc. and Nashville Biosciences, LLC announced two advancements in scale and depth of the Alliance for Genomic Discovery (AGD or the Alliance). With the addition of Regeneron Genetics Center® (RGC®) as the tenth member, the Alliance can expand the core dataset to 312,000 whole genomes. The Alliance also announced a new initiative: a dataset of 50,000 additional whole genomes with paired proteomic data generated using Illumina® Protein Prep.

GSK is among the first participants in this multiomic expansion. The AGD dataset is among the largest collections of whole genome sequences available, and it is the world's largest pairing of whole genome sequences with the depth of clinical data that comes from a leading academic medical center. De-identified, deep phenotypic data from electronic health records (EHR) enables more precise definition of disease cohorts and are enriched for advanced disease.

RGC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Regeneron, harnesses the vast potential of human genetics to discover important new medicines, validate existing research programs, and optimize clinical trials. With a database of nearly 3 million sequenced exomes and de-identified EHRs, RGC enables meaningful biological discoveries and guides Regeneron's broader drug discovery and development efforts. Through the Alliance, RGC will add significant scale to the Alliance's database as well as its already expansive genomic database.

One of RGC's main goals is to uncover large-effect protective genetic factors that can illuminate the next generation of high-confidence drug targets and ultimately deliver transformative new medicines. Regeneron integrates human genetics across its entire enterprise and intends to leverage this data at every stage of drug discovery and development ? from target discovery to clinical trial design to patient and market access to emerging predictive health analytics.

Powerful proteomic data can accelerate drug discovery research for pharma. Multiomic data adds new dimensions to drug discovery research, uncovering deeper biological information than genomics alone. GSK is one of the first to participate in the next phase of AGD, which expands the dataset's molecular depth by adding proteomics to enable entirely new layers of biological insight.

The dataset will consist of 50,000 paired whole-genome and proteomic samples, designed to facilitate faster, more efficient target discovery and therapy development. Adding proteomics to the AGD dataset will aid in understanding molecular mechanisms of disease-associated genetic variation. The diverse genetic ancestry in AGD provides an opportunity to study population-specific genetic variants and their associated proteins.

Illumina Protein Prep is already accelerating breakthroughs across cancer, cardiometabolic, and immunologic diseases. Illumina's recent acquisition of SomaLogic proteomics technologies expands Illumina's multiomics portfolio, empowering AGD to accelerate drug discovery and improve health care. In conjunction with Illumina's recently announced Billion Cell Atlas, this expanded effort continues the momentum of pharma leveraging combinations of large-scale datasets to identify and understand genetic targets, leading to new insights into disease mechanisms. Existing Alliance members include AbbVie, Alnylam, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, GSK, Merck, and Novo Nordisk.

RGC's membership expands the real-world genomic database to a cohort of 312,000 whole genomes. Along with GSK, Amgen is also participating in the proteomic expansion of AGD. AGD builds on NashBio and Vanderbilt University Medical Center's decades-long investment in the BioVU biobank, early EHR adoption, and clinico-genomic research.

AGD began sequencing in January 2023, making it one of the fastest large-scale genomics projects to date. Large-scale aggregation with DRAGEN Iterative gVCF Genotyper further enhances variant calling accuracy and consistency across diverse populations, enabling deeper insights into rare and complex genetic traits. The speed of this effort reflects the operational capabilities and deep collaboration between the participating life sciences organizations.

Illumina and NashBio are actively expanding the AGD network to continue to build on current successes, accelerate therapeutic discovery, and set new standards for clinical R&D pace, cost efficiency, and efficacy.