Simon Haworth, Director of Intellomx
The Ministry of Science & Technology (MOST) in Beijing announced this week that UK drug-discovery AI company Intelligent OMICS has been granted approval for its Tuberculosis study in Wuhan, China.
The study aims to validate both a panel of diagnostic biomarkers that predicts the presence of latent Tuberculosis and to validate potential biological drug targets that provide new treatment options.
Approval enables data to be shared for the first time between Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital and the company’s research team. Transfer of genetic material and data is strictly controlled within China and has proved a significant challenge for western pharmaceutical and biotech companies. It has taken Intelligent OMICS two years to achieve this valuable milestone under China’s Human Genetic Resources Administrative Licensing regulations.
“Our team in China, led by Ms Nicole Song, has worked tirelessly to address the complexities of Chinese regulation,” comments the Intellomx Director Dr Simon Haworth. “Few international companies have achieved this Approval, making cross-border genetics-related research impossible for most. But TB is a critical global issue and our ability to diagnose TB in its latent, hidden state is going to make a very significant impact in disease prevention and in understanding of the underlying disease pathways. This is clearly valued in China – as well as in India and other geographies with a high TB burden. Ultimately, we expect to apply this research to identify new therapies for TB that take effect prior to the acquisition of drug resistance so that we can address the twin issues of latent TB and multi-drug resistance infection. But first, we are absolutely delighted to be able to progress this important study in China and look forward to reporting results in Q2 2023.”
The research is being undertaken in collaboration with the highly-rated Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
“Collaboration with Simon and the Intelligent OMICS team has been a very positive experience for us, illustrating the great opportunity of cross-border collaboration,” says Xianxiang Chen, Chairman of Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital. “We believe that this work will herald a new beginning for TB treatment and prevention as well as a new beginning for our Sino-UK partnership.”