Cambridge, United Kingdom – 21 September 2021 - Congenica, the digital health company enabling rapid and accurate analysis of complex genomic data to transform people’s lives, is pleased to announce that it is one of the two joint winners of the Horizon Prize.
The Horizon Prize, run by MIT Solve, seeks technology-based solutions that use data to help rare disease patients get the right care faster and more accurately. MIT Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to solve world challenges.
Congenica’s winning proposal was based on the deployment of Congenica’s artificial intelligence (AI) powered genomic analysis software platform, which is designed to improve diagnosis. Congenica’s pioneering, highly scalable, and fully evidenced AI framework is able to detect differences, not only in disease patterns between different groups, but also in their responses to therapy.
The proposal focuses on deployment of the platform to candidate institutes recommended by Congenica’s Patient Advocacy and Engagement Advisory Board and the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC) for the free processing of samples from 10,000 rare disease patients from ethnic minority groups. The aim is that a diverse set of patients from around the world will benefit from access to genetic testing that may resolve their diagnostic odyssey. In addition, the project will allow a more complete data set on ethnic minority rare disease patients to be formed, enabling clinical models to be further refined and improving the rate of diagnosis as part of a virtuous feedback loop.
Tim Walbert, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Therapeutics: “Congratulations to Congenica on being one of the first recipients of The Horizon Prize. Your ingenuity in leveraging Artificial Intelligence to identify rare genetic variants in underrepresented communities via a free platform has the potential to eradicate an aspect of health disparity for these patients and their families. It also will provide researchers and healthcare providers with new data and information about these populations. I applaud and respect the drive and passion it takes to bring your idea to fruition. On behalf of rare disease patients around the world, thank you.”
Sandro Morganella, PhD, Head of Artificial Intelligence, Congenica: “Receiving this award highlights the importance of AI in clinical genomics. We are now able to extract complex patterns from large amounts of data and build prediction models that have a direct impact on patients’ lives. We are just at the beginning of this AI revolution and look forward to the generation of further evidence of the benefits of using Congenica’s AI initiative in healthcare in the years to come.”
Charles Steward PhD, Patient Advocacy and Engagement Lead, Congenica, said: “At Congenica, the patient is central to everything we do. By deploying our platform to underrepresented communities we can remove the barriers to the diagnostic testing of rare diseases, shortening the diagnostic odyssey for individual patients and improving our clinical models more broadly.”
Dr David Atkins, Chief Executive Officer, Congenica: “It is an honour to win such a prestigious award, which is testament to the continued dedication of our team in developing our world-leading platform to improve the diagnosis of rare diseases.”
About Congenica
Congenica is a digital health company enabling the rapid analysis and interpretation of genomic data, empowering researchers and clinicians to provide life-changing answers that improve wellbeing and disease management. Congenica’s world-leading software enables rapid genomic data analysis at scale and is the only product of its kind that has received the CE Mark under the In Vitro Diagnostics Directive.
A recognised leader in the genomic analysis of rare diseases and inherited cancer, Congenica is expanding its platform into new indications such as somatic cancer, next generation non- invasive pre-natal diagnosis and wellness, helping to deliver a future where clinical genomics is fully integrated into healthcare.
Based on pioneering research from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the UK NHS, Congenica has a global footprint supporting leading international laboratories, academic medical centres and biopharmaceutical companies and is the exclusive Clinical Decision Support partner for the NHS Genomic Medicine Service.
For more information visit www.congenica.com.
Contact details for editorial enquiries:
Becky Lamont, Marketing Communications Manager
Email: becky.lamont@congenica.com
Consilium Strategic Communications
Chris Gardner, Angela Gray, David Daley
Email: Congenica@consilium-comms.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 3709 5700