BioVU becomes available through BCRQUEST

ZURICH, Switzerland and BOSTON, MA—Today BC Platforms, a world leader in secure genomic data management and analytics, has revealed an agreement with Nashville Biosciences, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). The agreement will  make summary data about BioVU, one of the world’s most comprehensive clinico-genomic research databases, available through BC Platform’s global biobank platform, BCRQUEST.com.

Created by VUMC, BioVU provides clinical insights and resources to biomedical researchers in both academic and industry settings through a de-identified clinico-genomic research database containing robust, longitudinal clinical data and approximately 250,000 bio-banked DNA samples. BC Platforms will provide its BCRQUEST.com platform, a streamlined solution for secure data sharing, analytics and governance, which the company says will enable greater collaboration for scientific innovation and precision medicine.

Leeland Ekstrom, PhD, COO of Nashville Biosciences said, “In-depth genetic analysis has become essential in life science R&D. With drug development costs forecast to double every nine years, we need more than ever to improve R&D productivity and uncover new ways to diagnose and care for diseases more efficiently. Working with BC Platforms’ will extend the impact of BioVU to support researchers in efficient drug and diagnostics discovery and development, while still protecting the integrity of the biobank and the data it has been entrusted with.”

This new collaboration will link summary data about BioVU to BC Platforms’ bioanalytics platform, allowing researchers to securely perform queries to rapidly estimate counts for a potential study cohort, and determine the feasibility of the study without wasting time or effort. Researchers can then work with Nashville Biosciences and other biobanks participating in BCRQUEST.com to conduct their desired study. With more than 20 years of experience in securely managing genomic and phenotypic data, BC Platforms has developed reportedly unique technology capable of providing researchers with tools to browse and analyze summary level information from data providers, such as biobanks, who have subscribed to the service.

“The creation of Nashville Biosciences as the commercial interface by VUMC to allow streamlined access to one of the world’s largest and most unique datasets was a very progressive move. Using our BCRQUEST.com platform, biobanks can select which data from their collections to showcase in a secure and compliant manner to the world’s largest pharmaceutical R&D teams in order to establish future research projects,” commented Tero Silvola, CEO of BC Platforms. “The life science industry benefits from this global pool of harmonized biobank data – now totaling two million subjects – to gain scientific insights with the goal of reducing drug development timelines and bringing benefits to patients worldwide.”