Celera to Map Genomes of Up to 50 People for Drug Development
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
By Stephen Manning,
Washington Post Staff Writer
Celera Genomics said Tuesday that it will map the genes of up to 50 people to pinpoint genetic variations that could be the source of diseases and help develop new drugs to treat those illnesses. Celera Genomics Corp. is launching an ambitious, new effort to identify the genetic variations responsible for human disease, a move the Rockville firm hopes will bolster its plans to develop new drugs and diagnostic tests.
The company that mapped the human genome plans to turn its scientific expertise toward finding the tiny genetic differences, known as SNPs, for single nucleotide polymorphisms, that make individuals unique. The project will focus on SNPs linked to disease and varying patient responses to medicine.
"This will greatly speed up our ability to discover new diagnostics and therapeutics," said J. Craig Venter, Celera’s president and chief scientific officer. "It’s an integral part of our whole discovery pipeline."
The initiative is part of a broader strategy by Celera’s parent company, Applera Corp. of Norwalk, Conn., to cash in on the vast amounts of genetic information generated by Celera’s mapping of the human genome. Applera executives unveiled the "next phase of its genomics strategy" in a conference call with analysts and investors yesterday.
Under the plan, Applera’s three subsidiaries—Celera Genomics, Applied Biosystems and Celera Diagnostics—will work together to develop new products, ranging from diagnostic tests to new drugs, based on new information on important genetic differences. Applera plans to spend about $75 million, split equally between the three businesses, over the next year.
"This is our first big move to really commercialize the interpretation of the human genome," said Tony L. White, Applera’s chief executive. "It’s a big investment, but we think there’s potential for a big return for our shareholders."
Celera Genomics rose to fame last year when it raced publicly-funded researchers to map the human genome, the complete set of genetic instructions for making a person. To get that map, Celera used powerful computers to sequence the genetic codes of five individuals, identifying about 30,000 genes and more than three million SNPs.
But very few of those SNPs are useful for developing drugs and diagnostic tests: only two percent are found in genes, the instruction sets for making proteins.
Under the new initiative, Celera plans to use its high-powered DNA sequencing facility in Rockville to map selected portions of the genomes of 40 to 50 ndividuals. The company says detailed knowledge of genetic variation will lead to more effective drugs that cause fewer side effects.
Celera joins other groups searching for genetic differences. The publicly-funded Human Genome Project and several biotechnology companies have also launched efforts to develop SNP databases.
Applera executives believe the project will result in new products for all three businesses. Applied Biosystems, which makes gene sequencing machines, plans to develop test kits that help researchers search for important SNPs. And Celera Diagnostics, a joint venture between Applied Biosystems and Celera Genomics, hopes to develop new diagnostic tests that detect SNPs linked to certain diseases.
The new program will aid Celera Genomics’s transformation from a company that helps other companies discover drugs to one that discovers its own.
Currently, Celera’s main line of business is selling access to its gene maps of humans, mice and other organisms to drug companies, biotechnology firms and research institutions on a subscription basis. The subscriptions have generated healthy revenues, but as genetic data becomes a commodity, the company sees its future in drug
discovery.
"Information wants to be free, so you can’t sell it forever," said Jonathan Aschoff, a senior analyst at Arlington investment firm Friedman, Billings & Ramsey. "Celera’s future hinges on first coming out with a diagnostic product with decent profit margins, and then some tangible evidence that they’re making headway with therapeutics."
Celera has made several moves toward these goals. In June, the company announced it would acquire Axys Pharmaceuticals Inc., a South San Francisco, Calif.-based drug discovery firm, for about $175 million. And last week, the company signed a deal with Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Carlsbad, Calif. to identify the function of more than 200 genes and use that information for drug development.
With a large database of SNPs, Celera hopes to generate revenue by licensing its discoveries to other companies, forging drug development collaborations with partner firms and developing its own drugs.
Ellen Lubman, associate analyst at investment bank Robertson Stephens, said the new initiative is a necessary step in the company’s transformation into a drug discovery company.
"It’s a strategically smart move on their part," Lubman said. "Celera’s getting into this game much later than other people, but it has the finances and science to catch up very quickly."
The project is part of a $75 million investment by Celera's parent company, Norwalk, Conn.-based Applera Corp., to develop and market their own drugs and genetic tests using Celera's genetic database.
Celera, of Rockville, plotted the genetic makeup of five people in the highly publicized effort that ended earlier this year. Company officials said that effort was only the first step in figuring out how genes work.
"We're narrowing the focus," said J. Craig Venter, Celera's president.
The company will search for and create a database of genetic variations known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. Scientists believe the variations — often one letter of DNA between the genes of two different people — can explain why one person gets a disease while another does not.
Until recently, Celera had focused on selling subscriptions to its database of human, fruit fly and mouse genes to academic institutions and drug companies.
The company is now also trying to mine its genetic data for potential drugs and genetic tests to screen for diseases, a logical next step, said analyst Eric Schmidt of SG Cowen Securities.
"They've now got a strategy that seems much more targeted at a commercial outcome," Schmidt said. "The market has gotten beyond paying companies for just science. They need to take it downstream and commercialize it."
Celera discovered more than 3 million SNPs while sequencing the first five people, but said less than two percent were located in the stretches of DNA that form genes.
Celera hopes to find about 200,000 SNPs that are related to diseases. While it took the company three years and millions of dollars to sequence its first genome, Venter predicts Celera can cut that time to one week at a cost of less than $1 million.
"It gives us a phenomenal new capability," Venter said.
Celera joins several other biotech companies that are researching SNPs and genetic patterns known as haplotypes. They include Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. and Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, based in New Haven, Conn.
Federal scientists with the Human Genome Project also plan to create their own database of SNPs, said Kathy Hudson, assistant director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Researchers met last week to discuss the project, and will finalize the details soon, she said. Any data resulting from the effort will be available to the public for free, she said.
Applera's two other business units will also be involved in trying to commercialize Celera's SNP research. Applied Biosystems, which makes gene sequencers, will create tools that allow researchers to hunt for SNP's. Celera Diagnostics will analyze the role that genetic differences play in diseases.
"This Applera project is expected to yield information and tools that could make it possible to cost effectively identify, and therefore address, the medically relevant differences among individuals," said company CEO Tony L. White.
Shares of Celera closed Tuesday at $29.25, down $1.46, or 4.75 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. Applera's stock, meanwhile, rose a penny to close at $25.21 on the NYSE. |
