Human Longevity Inc (HLI), San Diego, has announced a 10-year deal with AstraZeneca to sequence and analyze up to 500,000 DNA samples from AstraZeneca clinical trials.

The DNA samples will be collected under optional informed consent in AstraZenenca’s clinical trials over the course of the collaboration. HLI will sequence the genomes from these samples and from future samples donated over the next 10 years by patients in AstraZeneca’s trials. These data will be shared with AstraZeneca, which will also gain access to the HLI Knowledgebase, slated to have up to 1 million integrated health records with genome, molecular, and clinical data by 2020.

AstraZeneca will work with HLI’s machine learning, pattern recognition, and analytical techniques to interpret the genomic data.

“We are excited to establish this long term relationship with AstraZeneca who are now establishing themselves as a leader in genomic-focused research,” says J. Craig Venter, PhD, cofounder and CEO of HLI. “We look forward to working together to use HLI’s proprietary computational methods and genomic data insights to better inform clinical trials and drug development.”

The HLI Knowledgebase contains tens of thousands of high-quality samples with genomic and phenotypic data. It can be used to help customers streamline drug development, aid in discovery of biomarker and companion diagnostics, and rescue and repurpose drugs from failed clinical trials. 

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

For more information, visit HLI.