The Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN) and HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology announced today a research collaboration to advance cancer research and care, under which HudsonAlpha will provide DNA sequences for 20,000 patient samples, tumor and non-tumor, by 2019 and also whole exome sequencing, and RNA sequencing to learn more about the genetic makeup of cancerous tumors.
The services will be provided to the ORIEN Avatar Research Program, a first-of-its kind collaboration that brings together patients, physicians, researchers, and pharmaceutical companies to speed clinical development and discovery of treatments for advanced-stage cancers.
“This unique program combines capabilities from leading cancer institutions across the United States in an effort to dramatically improve patient care and outcomes,” said Shawn Levy, Ph.D., director of HudsonAlpha’s Genomic Services Laboratory, which will provide the DNA sequencing services. “We…look forward to helping make precision-based therapies a reality for more patients.”
The ORIEN Avatar Research Program was launched in April this year and is managed by M2Gen, an informatics solutions company. M2Gen is collecting and managing the data generated within the program and also the associated Total Cancer Care Protocol and database, which to date manages what it deems to be the world’s largest cancer database and has gained commitments from more than 140,000 cancer patients to be studied for life.
ORIEN, a research collaboration of 13 health systems founded by Moffitt Cancer Center, and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, aims to accelerate the translation of significant findings to better match late-stage cancer patients with targeted care.
“For far too long, cancer research and treatment have been hampered by an industry standard of individualism. We founded ORIEN in 2014 with the intent to break the mold and usher in a new culture of cooperation and collaboration in healthcare,” said Mike Caligiuri, Director, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and CEO of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University. “With the data and information provided by the ORIEN Avatar Program, we stand poised to make the promise of the next generation of cancer treatments a reality.”
