PlumCare RWE partners with Lifebit on Greece’s newborn genomic sequencing program, BeginNGS

PlumCare RWE and Lifebit enter a three-year partnership to support Greece’s pioneering national newborn genomic sequencing program, BeginNGS. Researchers will be able to access and analyse data securely in combination with global cohorts, whilst ensuring data is kept safe, private and in place in their secure environment using Lifebit’s federated technology. This will help detect approximately 400 early onset but actionable genetic conditions in newborns, ensuring appropriate treatments can be given as early as possible, to help limit the impact of the diseases.

LONDON, Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Lifebit, a leading UK-based precision medicine software company, was awarded a three-year contract with PlumCare RWE to support the scaling of BeginNGS Greece, a pioneering newborn sequencing program.

“We are thrilled to partner with Lifebit as it will allow us to securely connect data from Greece’s first newborn screening program with global cohorts. With this, our researchers can gain crucial insights to better understand rare diseases and ultimately save lives,” said Petros Tsipouras, Chief Executive Officer at PlumCare RWE.

Worldwide, thousands of children are born with rare genetic conditions that severely affect their quality of life. For approximately 400 early onset but actionable genetic conditions, these can be detected easily using genomic sequencing and appropriate interventions given, allowing affected families to lead lives unburdened by disease.

The BeginNGS program, backed by PlumCare RWE, the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine, and the National Organization of Public Health (EODY) in Greece, aims to sequence the genomes of 1,000 newborns by the end of 2023, scaling to all newborns in Greece by 2027. The program will use whole genome sequencing to diagnose many rare but actionable genetic conditions and identify treatment options before symptoms begin, a major advance over current practices that focus on children who are already critically ill.

Rare genetic conditions are, by definition, uncommon within the general population, therefore, to maximise and validate insights from the data, researchers critically need access to multiple large-scale cohorts of clinical-genomic data that are often in different places. Lifebit’s powerful federated technology will advance these efforts, making this data interoperable and securely connected with global data cohorts.

Lifebit’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Maria Chatzou Dunford commented, “We believe all biomedical data that can be used to save lives should be used. We are thrilled to support  PlumCare to harness the power of securely connected clinico-genomic data. Our federated technology means that the data remains safe and private throughout by never leaving their secure environment and is used only by trusted researchers. By enabling secure data analysis, our technology will help to deliver life-saving breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.”

About Lifebit Biotech Ltd.

Lifebit builds enterprise data platforms for use by organisations with complex and sensitive biomedical datasets. Lifebit’s patented federated technology securely unlocks access to biomedical data. From providing Trusted Research Environments for national precision medicine programmes to enabling pharmaceutical companies to discover new drug targets faster, Lifebit empowers customers to transform how they leverage sensitive biomedical data. Web: www.lifebit.ai/ 

About PlumCare RWE:

PlumCare RWE (Delaware, USA) is a Biotechnology and Healthcare data company. It combines real world evidence and multi-omics analysis to deliver actionable insights for individuals, companies and populations focusing on children. It is building a Global Pediatric Databank that can impact individual and population health and facilitate drug development and discovery. Its European headquarters is based in Athens, Greece. Web: https://www.plumcarerwe.com/