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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and ROSTOCK, Germany and BERLIN, January 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – CENTOGENE N.V. (Nasdaq: CNTG) (the “Company”), the essential life science partner for data-driven answers in rare and neurodegenerative diseases, and the Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases (the “Lab”) at Institut Imagine today announced a strategic research collaboration to improve health outcomes for rare disease patients by accelerating and de-risking drug discovery and clinical development.
As part of the collaboration, CENTOGENE and the Lab will leverage the CENTOGENE Biodatabank, which contains over 70 million unique genetic variants collected from more than 800,000 patients from over 120 countries – providing valuable and unparalleled insights into the role that specific genes play in disease. Together, CENTOGENE and the Lab will jointly agree on future research projects that will integrate multiomics and bioinformatics to analyze this highly diverse data to discover and validate novel genetic and biochemical targets that can be used for future development of rare disease therapies. By proving and validating the relevance of a target to disease and that modulating it will have the desired outcome, drug discovery and development can be significantly accelerated and de-risked. Specific targets of the collaboration have not been disclosed.
“Our mission is to gain a better understanding of the human genetic and immunological determinants of rare and common infectious diseases,” said Dr. Jean-Laurent Casanova, Head of the Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases. “By working together with CENTOGENE to leverage deep multiomic and multiethnic insights, we will be able to accelerate more precise treatment options and ultimately improve patient health outcomes.
“At CENTOGENE, we are committed to delivering data-driven, life-changing answers to accelerate and de-risk drug discovery, development, and commercialization. By leveraging our highly diverse insights, multiomic technologies, and rare disease expertise, we are able to qualitatively make a difference in the success of research and early clinical development,” said Prof. Peter Bauer, CENTOGENE’s Chief Medical and Genomic Officer. “In teaming up with the Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases at Institut Imagine, we will be able to collaboratively contribute to some of the world’s leading research projects to transform data into life-saving therapeutics for patients around the world.”
With more than 350 million people worldwide affected by over 7,000 rare diseases, approximately 95% of which do not have an available treatment, rare disease patients are facing some of the highest unmet medical needs. Progress towards the development of new therapies and cures in rare diseases is hindered by several factors:
- A lack of disease understanding compounded by small patient population
- Difficulties in correctly diagnosing and identifying patients for trials
- A lack of clearly defined clinical endpoints
- Complexities around leveraging real-world data
By combining expertise, the collaboration will support end-to-end, data-driven drug discovery and clinical development to enable better health outcomes for rare disease patients.
“Since its creation in 2007, Institut Imagine has been forming partnerships with the leading healthcare players to combine resources and transform care for patients around the world,” said Stanislas Lyonnet, Director of Institut Imagine. “Institut Imagine is excited to see this partnership between the Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases and CENTOGENE to advance research and make an impact for patients for years to come.”
Dr. Vivien Béziat, Researcher at the Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Christian Ganoza, Senior Scientist at CENTOGENE, are project leads for this collaboration.