MediSapiens Joins the FinnGen Project and Brings Solutions to Curation, Management and Visualization of Genetic and Clinical Data of 500.000 Finns
Helsinki – December 22, 2017 – MediSapiens, a leading developer and provider of genomic, biomedical and healthcare data solutions, joins the recently announced 59M€ FinnGen project, that aims at improving human health through genetically profiling 500.000 Finns, and combining that with a rich set of clinical data to identify new therapeutic targets, as well as diagnostic and prognostic markers for treating numerous diseases.
MediSapiens will provide its data curation, data management, data exploration and discovery software solutions to FinnGen, and will be an active technology partner in the project. As the leading provider of end-to-end solutions for biomedical data, MediSapiens is able to support the FinnGen project with cutting edge solutions for analyzing, curating, managing, exploring, interpreting and visualizing the vast pool of genetic and clinical data gathered in the project.
The FinnGen project will genetically characterize and combine clinical data from up to 500.000 individuals collected by a nationwide network of Finnish biobanks. The goal is to deepen the understanding about the origins of diseases, and provide insights for better prevention, diagnostics and treatment of disease.
Finland has excellent conditions for medical research as it has comprehensive health registers, electronic medical records and a research-friendly population. In addition, due to the unique genetic heritage of Finns, genomics data is faster to analyze, and the probability of findings is higher than in populations that are genetically more heterogenous.
“MediSapiens has its roots in the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine, one of the key partners in the project, and on the other hand is a prominent solution provider in the pharmaceutical, diagnostics and research segments”, explains Sami Kilpinen, CEO of MediSapiens. “We are in a unique position to serve as the bridge between the data producers and the data users. We are absolutely delighted to work closely with the FinnGen team and bring our expertise, networks and scientific and technological developments to the project’s benefit.”
“Breakthroughs from the project will benefit health care systems and patients both locally and globally”, says Professor Aarno Palotie, Scientific Director of FinnGen. “The study helps us find new areas for drug discovery and ways to prevent disease by tapping into decades of population-wide medical registry data and cutting-edge genomics expertise. With FinnGen we can build a foundation for health innovations and personalised treatments.”
About MediSapiens
MediSapiens Ltd. is a Bio-IT and bioinformatics company specialized in pharmaceutical research and translational genomics, providing life science and biomedical companies and research organizations with tools that help them manage and interpret large genomic, biomedical and clinical data sets. Established in 2009 and based in Helsinki, Finland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, MediSapiens creates intuitive software platforms to manage, integrate, and visualize complex multi-dimensional datasets, such as genomic sequencing data. The company's goal is to drive medicine forward by developing tools that provide scientists with a way to quickly analyze and visualize vast amounts of data and turn it into knowledge that fuels innovation. For further information, please visit medisapiens.com.
About FinnGen
The FinnGen study is an unprecedented global research project representing one of the largest studies of this type. The project aims to improve human health through genetic research, and ultimately identify new therapeutic targets and diagnostics for treating numerous diseases. The FinnGen study is coordinated by researchers from the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Central Hospital. In addition to biobanks and research organisations, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes) and seven international pharmaceutical companies are taking part in the study: Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Biogen, Celgene, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, MSD and Pfizer. The total funding for the 6-year project is 59M€, of which two-thirds of the project funding is expected to come from pharmaceutical companies and one-third from Tekes.
Contact
Sami Kilpinen
CEO, MediSapiens Ltd.
Email: sami.kilpinen@medisapiens.com
Phone: +358458478878