NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Jackson Laboratory and Wuhan Frasergen Bioinformatics will create a cancer genomics research facility in China with the aim of developing new personalized treatments.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the companies plan to launch a facility in Wuhan, Hubei Province, which hosts a center for the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jackson Lab said on Saturday.
At the facility, Jackson Lab and Frasergen scientists will study and characterize tumors donated by Chinese patients and create a biorepository to support scientists from academia and the private sector. The partners will use Jackson Lab's severely immune-compromised mouse, the NSG, as a host for growing and expanding the tumors to better understand their fundamental biology and how tumors with specific characteristics respond to specific therapies.
Jackson Lab President and CEO Edison Liu said he expects the Wuhan facility will provide new services to basic and industrial researchers.
"On the one hand, it supports research and provides services in personalized medicine in cancer and hereditary disease conditions; on the other hand, it supports the research needs for pharmaceutical entities using the technology and resources from The Jackson Laboratory," Liu said in a statement.
He also said the facility will support Jackson Lab's three US facilities, as it will offer opportunities for data sharing and collaborations and to sell mice and services for use in China.
"The scale of this project will greatly accelerate our accumulation of detailed genomic profiles of patient cancers and, through their study, enable more accurate therapeutic prescriptions for future patients," Liu said.