Sidra Medical and Research Center partners with WuXi NextCODE on research, bioinformatics project

Sidra Medical and Research Center in Qatar has partnered with precision medicine company WuXi NextCODE to conduct research and develop cutting-edge bioinformatics programs; the multi-year collaboration will allow Sidra to utilize its clinical, research and bioinformatics teams to deliver genomic medicine, not only for its own patients but on a global scale.

"Understanding the genome is the key to building a roadmap for better health outcomes," said Dr. Francesco Marincola, chief research officer for Sidra. "The partnership with WuXi NextCODE brings us key capabilities."

WuXi NextCODE's technology was originally developed to conduct population research in Iceland -- which is similar to the Qatar Genome Project with regard to sample size and participation.

"Qatar is a small nation thinking big, committed to playing a leading role in making sequence data a standard part of healthcare," Hannes Smarason, co-founder, president and COO of WuXi NextCODE said.