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Silence Therapeutics Inks Deal to Access Genomics England Database

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — British RNAi drug developer Silence Therapeutics said today that it has signed an agreement to access certain portions of Genomics England's human genome database to help identify potential new drug targets.

Launched by the UK government in 2013, Genomics England has sequenced 100,000 genomes from roughly 85,000 individuals — including those with cancer and rare diseases — and joined these data with medical records.

Under the terms of the deal, Silence will be able to access a subset of Genomics England's database in order to identify novel therapeutic targets for rare diseases and cardiometabolic conditions. It will also use the database in the recruitment and stratification of patients for clinical trials.

Additional terms were not disclosed.

"This key collaboration will help us increase innovation in our target gene choices and will also be attractive to potential partners as we explore a variety of business development opportunities," Silence CEO David Horn Solomon said in a statement.

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