Structural Genomics Consortium expanding clinical and patient reach with new Phase IV funding

Canadian funding for the Toronto-based Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) has been renewed, injecting $33 million into the ground-breaking open innovation organization that determines the three-dimensional structure of proteins related to human diseases. The fourth phase of the public-private SGC will see an expansion of its collaborative network to include disease and patient foundations while partnering with clinicians and research hospitals to validate new targets for drug discovery by testing its chemical probes on patients.

SGC is comprised of units in Toronto, Oxford Univ (UK), Karolinska Institute (Sweden), Goethe Univ (Germany) , the Univ of North Carolina (US) and the Univ of Campinas (Brazil). Internationally, SGC is responsible for 13% of all solved human protein structures.

Leading the Phase IV (2015-2020) investment is Genome Canada with $11 million, bringing its total support for SGC since its inception in 2004 to nearly $55 million. Also contributing to the latest round are the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science and eight partner pharmaceutical firms.

“The expansion of the scope of the Structural Genomics Consortium to be closer to patient trials speaks to the maturing of the program. Partners have steered it towards more clinically promising areas,” says Genome Canada president and CEO, Marc LePage. “Each phase of the consortium is different. There’s an evolution.”

SGC is considered a world leader in sharing its research results with no restrictions on use or filing of patents. It was instrumental in the adoption of an open science mandate at the Montreal Neurological Institute, which took the step following consultation with SGC director and CEO, Dr Aled Edwards. Since becoming the first SGC clinical centre partner, it has attracted more than $100 million in public investment and philanthropic donations. That includes a $20-million donation by Larry and Judy Tanenbaum to create the Tanenbaum Open Science Institute, which will collect research on neurological diseases and make them freely available for further research.

“It’s been fantastic. There have been lots of industrial contracts and philanthropy went through the roof due to open innovation,” says LePage. “It’s easier for companies to come in and bypass the lawyers …It’s still early days but kudos to Aled and MNI. (Director) Guy Rouleau has a genomics background and is familiar with open innovation. It’s in his DNA.”

SGC is also working with Care 4 Rare, a large-scale applied research project funded by Genome Canada, Genome Quebec and others, focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases. These are uncommon diseases that are often ignored by big pharma due to the high costs and relatively low returns of seeking out genetic solutions. But LePage says the work of Care 4 Rare — headquartered at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa — is helping to de-risk gene discovery to the point of attracting industry with research conducted at 21 sites across Canada by 80 physicians and 50 scientists. Several companies are now interested in exploring rare diseases including Pfizer, GSK and Sanofi. To date, 135 novel rare disease genes have been identified with three experimental therapies in development and 25 countries are participating

SGC’s impact is being felt outside of the medical realm, with its open innovation and open science concept underpinning Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) and DivSeek, a new organization dedicated to crop diversity by sequencing plant genes held in collections around the world and making them available globally.  Founded in 2013, DivSeek has 68 international partners including Genome Canada, Genome BC, Genome Prairie, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and several Canadian universities.

Together, the partners are working to establish a world-wide community of practice that defines standards regarding the acquisition, storage, retrieval and analysis of genotypic, phenotypic and environmental data related to plant genetic resources with the aim of enhancing the productivity, sustainability and resilience of crops and agricultural systems.

“We hope to bring the headquarters to Canada although there will be collections all over the world,” says LePage. “In Norway there’s a large seed vault on an island that’s buried in an (abandoned coal) mine. It seeks to preserve the original biological diversity in plants.”

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