We are excited to announce our new partnership with Tute Genomics, which will allow Patients Know Best (PKB) users to receive a full profile of all genetic data in their medical record. Thus, PKB users will be able to receive healthcare services precision-made for their particular condition, based on analysis of their individual genome sequence.
We started thinking about this when Rare Genomics staff uploaded into PKB the full genome and exome sequences of the patients they were looking after. This allowed the local clinicians looking after each child to have access to the genome and to understand better the child’s rare disease.
PKB wanted the patients and their families to also understand the meaning of these genetic sequences. It was wonderful to see a demonstration of Tute; their software is used by genetic counsellors, who are professionals in understanding genomes. It turned out that Tute’s team were also thinking about putting their tools in the hands of patients. And like PKB they loved the power of a REST API for fast integration.
The power of genomics goes beyond rare diseases. For example, not all women with breast cancer respond to chemotherapy because some lack the right gene alleles. Identifying the women who will not respond spares them the chemotherapy. Identifying carrier status in parents is important for cystic fibrosis in Ireland and for other familial diseases in the Middle East. Antibiotics like gentamicin are avoided because deafness is a rare side effect. However, this side effect is much more common in carriers of certain gene alleles. Knowing the carrier status means avoiding the antibiotic for those with a high risk, whilst also using the antibiotic to help those patients at a much lower risk of damage to hearing.
Such understanding is just the beginning of what genomics will deliver. The cost of sequencing genes is dropping even faster than the cost of computing power. That’s better than half the cost every 18 months, and better than 1,000th the cost every 15 years. Furthermore, the quality of analysis is improving at a similar rate. For all these reasons, Tute and PKB are delighted to put such analysis in the hands of all patients as cheap sequences become commonly available to all patients.
The full press release can be found below.
TUTE GENOMICS AND PATIENTS KNOW BEST PARTNER TO BRING
‘PRECISION MEDICINE’ A STEP CLOSER
26 August 2014
Tute Genomics is today teaming up with UK-based Patients Know Best – the world’s first fully patient controlled medical records system – to make ‘precision medicine’ a reality to patients across the globe.
Operating a cloud-based software platform, Tute Genomics specialises in genome analysis, creating meaningful reports of an individual’s full genomic profile that even the most specialist doctors can interpret and use.
The partnership between the two companies will mean that for the first time a patient’s full genetic profile – and one that is easy to work with and understand – can be stored within their healthcare record. For the patient, this will ultimately result in receiving healthcare services that are precision-made for their particular condition – based on their individual genome sequence.
Dr Reid Robison, CEO of Tute Genomics said:
“We’re excited to work with Patients Know Best because we share the same philosophies about pushing genomic medicine forward. Patients Know Best believes in creating a system that will reduce errors and raise quality and that is the purpose of the Tute genomics platform; enabling precision medicine. Tute Genomics is working hard to make genomics more accessible to healthcare, research and even consumers, in order to advance individualized, genome-guided medicine.”
Over the past few years genomic sequencing – ‘mapping out’ a person’s full DNA – has become far cheaper and therefore far more feasible. Full genome sequencing involves testing 25,000 separate gnomes and ‘reading off’ 6bn letters (3bn ‘base pairs) in any given human genome. 10 years ago it cost $3bn to sequence a person’s full genome. Today, the cost stands at around $1,000.
Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, CEO of Patients Know Best said:
“When doctors know an individual’s genomic profile they can design plans that exactly treat their condition. For example, gene tests can predict whether or not a patient with breast cancer will benefit from a certain type of chemotherapy, or a patient with an infection can safely receive powerful antibiotics. We believe that before long, everyone will get his or her genome sequenced. Tute is providing the most powerful genetic analysis in the hands of patients.”
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About Patients Know Best
Patients Know Best is the world’s first patient-controlled medical records system. It is a fully secure online tool which enables patients to better organise, manage and control their own health care provision – it also saves the time of physicians through allowing secure, online consultations. Founded by Dr. Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, a physician, programmer and expert in IT in healthcare, Patients Know Best has won social enterprise awards for its focus on patient care. Patients Know Best’s first customers include Great Ormond Street Hospital, St Marks Hospital and NHS South Devon. Patients Know Best integrates fully into the NHS secure network and is available for use by any patient with any clinician anywhere in the world. It is now used by over 30 hospitals in the UK, USA, Holland, Ireland, Kuwait, Australia and Hong Kong. Patients Know Best complies fully with UK NHS information governance requirements as well as the EU data protection act and US HIPAA legislation for dealing with medical data. www.patientsknowbest.com
About Tute Genomics
Tute Genomics is a USA-based company developing innovative cloud-based solutions to accelerate genetic discovery and enable precision medicine. Tute created a clinical genome interpretation platform that assists researchers in identifying disease genes and biomarkers, and assists clinicians/labs in performing genetic diagnosis. Given sequencing data on a genome or a panel of genes, Tute can return over 125 annotations on variants and genes, perform family-based, case/control or tumor sample analyses to identify causal disease genes, and generate clinical reports for clinicians to focus on clinically relevant and actionable findings. Tute is built on the expertise that developed ANNOVAR, the most widely used genome annotation & interpretation technology with over 800 scientific publications. The genome revolution is here, and Tute envisions a future where clinical reports on genomes are interactive and integrated into medical records, and aims to be the ‘dropbox for genomes’ for clinicians and patients alike. To learn more please visit www.tutegenomics.com. www.tutegenomics.com
Contact:
Chris Smith, Swarm Communications
+44 7989 321 743
chris@swarmcommunications.co.uk
Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, Patients Know Best
Patients Know Best
+44 7724 189 415
mohammad@patientsknowbest.com
Dr Reid Robison
Tute Genomics
+1 858 779 4363
reid@tutegenomics.com