Pharma firms team up to study UK proteomics data

In a large freezer in the north of England sit hundreds of thousands of blood samples, stored there by an organization called the UK Biobank.

A consortium of 14 pharmaceutical companies will now use those samples and start the largest proteomics study to date. Speaking to journalists before the start of the project, UK Biobank CEO Rory Collins said the hope is that the study will result in an “explosion in discoveries” that could lead to new diagnostic tests and treatment options.

The study, launched in the UK on Jan. 10, is built on the Pharma Proteomics Project, a pilot program set up in 2020. In it, researchers profiled blood samples from more than 54,000 people in the UK and found over 14,000 links between common genetic variants and proteins circulating in the blood (Nature 2023, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06592-6). Chris Whelan, an executive at Johnson & Johnson and lead of the Pharma Proteomics Project, said the new study will “eclipse” the pilot in scale and depth.

The UK Biobank holds 600,000 blood samples from its 500,000 participants, along with a host of their genetic and health information. About 100,000 of them are second samples, taken from volunteers up to 15 years after they provided the first ones.

The Pharma Proteomics Project will start with 300,000 of the biobank’s samples (250,000 of the initial samples and 50,000 of the second ones) and send them to the Regeneron Genetics Center, where researchers will measure for as many as 5,400 different proteins. The results should help scientists develop blood-based diagnostics and identify new drug targets.

As is standard for deals with UK Biobank, the consortium will get exclusive access to the data created by the study for a short period before they are made available to approved researchers worldwide. Collins said he hopes others will be encouraged to join the initiative so that all 600,000 samples can eventually be analyzed.

Whelan said the investment by the project’s participants demonstrates a growing recognition in the drug industry that a “revolution is happening in proteomics,” powered in part by a huge improvement in proteomic technologies. Analyses will start this month and are due to finish by the middle of 2026, he said.