BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, leading US health systems, including Advocate Health, CommonSpirit Health, Henry Ford Health, Northwell Health, Providence, and Trinity Health, announce the Truveta Genome Project, an innovative collaboration to generate genetic data on tens of millions of consented and de-identified volunteers, creating the largest and most diverse database of genotypic and phenotypic information ever assembled. At over ten times the scale of previous endeavors, this groundbreaking project ensures comprehensive representation across ancestries, ethnicities, genders, and other social drivers of health, unlocking profound insights into how genetics impact health. Truveta and its member health systems will partner with the Regeneron Genetics Center® (RGC) to sequence the exomes of the first ten million volunteers. Microsoft Azure will be the exclusive cloud provider for the Truveta Genome Project.
Healthcare sites across the US will obtain patient consent to utilize leftover biospecimens from routine lab tests linked to their de-identified medical records for anonymized genetic research. The biospecimens will be sent to RGC to conduct genetic sequencing, while preserving patient anonymity. After initial sequencing, leftover biospecimens will be stored to support future multi-omics sequencing. All de-identified sequencing data will be added to Truveta Data, enabling biopharma and academic research to develop AI accelerating drug discovery, optimizing clinical trials, and transforming how diseases are prevented, diagnosed, and cured. Individuals interested in participating can visit Truveta.com for more information.
“Nations have spent decades and billions of dollars to try and uncover the mysteries of biology to advance healthcare,“ said Terry Myerson, CEO and co-founder, Truveta. “Just like volunteering to be an organ donor on your driver’s license is a simple act of service with a profound impact, the Truveta Genome Project enables each of us to anonymously contribute to dramatically accelerate progress in discovering the science of humanity, improving the health of our families and communities, and lowering the cost of care. Discoveries from smaller datasets before today’s AI have led to important new approaches to help prevent heart disease and restore hearing in children with certain forms of congenital deafness – it is so exciting to envision where a complete representative genomic dataset will guide us.”
“As health system leaders, we aspire to protect and care for the health of our communities – not just treat diseases once they are already afflicted,” said Michael Dowling, Northwell Heath CEO. “The Truveta Genome Project has the potential to transform healthcare from treating disease to preventing disease, and we are excited to make it happen.”
“The scale and diversity of the Truveta Genome Project will enable us to explore the complex interplay between genetics and health in unprecedented detail,” said Aris Baras, M.D., Senior Vice President at Regeneron and Head of Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC). “With nearly three million exomes sequenced at RGC to date, Regeneron scientists have already identified dozens of genetic-based drug targets for a wide range of conditions – including chronic liver disease, obesity, cancer, and neurodegenerative conditions – that have led to multiple clinical-stage treatments. As we continue to scale our genomics initiatives, we seek more targets and medicines, while expanding the potential impact of our research to optimize clinical trials and personalize healthcare delivery.”
To make this bold initiative possible, 17 health systems, Regeneron, and Illumina, Inc., have invested $320M in Truveta preferred equity at a valuation exceeding $1B. As part of this, Regeneron has made a strategic investment of $119.5 million upfront enabling the advancement of discovery and development of new therapies, as well as development of next generation solutions for healthcare delivery and population health management. Illumina, a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, will invest $20 million. This builds on the previously announced strategic investment Microsoft made into Truveta.
Leading health systems pivotal to the Truveta Genome Project
Founded in 2020 by innovative health systems inspired by saving lives with data, Truveta is an unprecedented collaboration between 30 health systems with mission and economic alignment. Together, de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data from their patients’ care create Truveta Data, which now represents more than 120 million patients. Today, Truveta Data is driving advancements in cardiovascular, neurology, oncology, metabolic, and other critical areas of medical research from life science, public health, healthcare, and academic research organizations.
“Improving our understanding of the genome can transform healthcare by unlocking both the causes and cures of diseases – and we’re now helping build the world’s largest anonymized genetic database to deliver on that promise,” said Eugene A. Woods, MBA, MHA, FACHE, CEO, Advocate Health. “With this research into how genetic factors affect our health, based on tens of millions of records and harnessing the power of AI, we can then deliver tailored treatments based on patients’ unique genetic makeup. In other words, we can help more people get healthy and stay healthy. And because this dataset is drawn from the most diverse spectrum of volunteers, the resulting medical breakthroughs will have the power to benefit everyone.”
“Our physicians and researchers use genomics and other data to identify environmental, clinical and other factors that improve or impair health across the communities we serve,” said Wright Lassiter III, CEO of CommonSpirit Health. “Now, with Truveta, we hope to deepen our understanding of the ways that specific groups are uniquely affected by their environments or other factors and develop targeted approaches to prevent and treat illness. This is an important step toward better health for all Americans.”
“Our participation in the groundbreaking Truveta Genome Project represents a significant step toward personalized medicine, where treatments are tailored to the individual needs of each patient,” said Bob Riney, president and CEO, Henry Ford Health. “By leveraging the power of genomic data integrated with EHR data, we aim to enhance patient outcomes, reduce the burden of disease, and pave the way for a healthier future. This initiative not only underscores our commitment to innovation but also to delivering the highest standard of care to those we serve.”
“During the pandemic, innovative health systems joined together to create Truveta aligned by a singular mission of saving lives with data,” said Erik Wexler, president and CEO, Providence. “In four years, we made scientifically rigorous research possible on data for over 120 million patients to advance healthcare for all. Now, we are inspired by the real moonshot for healthcare – delivering on our dream to personalize patient care by customizing treatments and care pathways and prevent disease. We believe the cure for cancer may live in this valuable data.”
“Access to comprehensive and accurate data, including genomics, is critical in addressing healthcare inequities,” said Mike Slubowski, president and CEO of Trinity Health. “By leveraging data that truly reflects the communities we serve, we bring the benefit of genomics to all, tailor interventions more precisely, and measure outcomes more effectively. We not only improve individual patient care but create healthier communities and a more inclusive healthcare system. Our commitment to data-driven strategies ensures that no one is left behind and that every community has the opportunity to thrive.”
Truveta Genome Project + AI will accelerate drug discovery and value-based care
Advancements from genomic medicine have been limited to date due to the lack of large and representative databases required to apply today’s AI to discover the connections between genetics and medical outcomes.
The Truveta Genome Project will be able to deliver the scale and representativeness the world needs through the power of AI and Truveta Data, which uses the Truveta Language Model – a large-language, multi-modal AI model – to transform billions of data points with industry-leading normalization, built on Microsoft Azure. Data is carefully de-identified with the highest standards of security and privacy protection. AI is only as good as the data it is trained upon, and Truveta Data, updated daily, ensures the most complete, timely, and clean regulatory-grade data are available for research.
“The opportunity to advance personalized medicine has never been stronger,” said Jason Graefe, Corporate Vice President, ISV & Digital Natives at Microsoft Corp. “By integrating Azure’s infrastructure and AI capabilities, Truveta Genome Project will deliver new insights into the causes of and cures for diseases. This collaboration underscores our dedication to improving patient care and advancing value-based care initiatives, ultimately transforming how diseases are understood, prevented, diagnosed, and cured.”
With this advanced genotypic and phenotypic database, Truveta will partner with life science to advance drug discovery, improve clinical trials, and train AI models. Understanding the genetic basis of diseases facilitates the development of diagnostics to ensure precise and effective treatments through targeted therapies and biomarker discovery. These data will also improve clinical trial efficiency by identifying patient populations most likely to respond to specific treatments, reducing costs and increasing success rates. Life science organizations will also be able to study population exome data with the capability for multiomic sequencing follow-up.
Truveta will also partner with healthcare innovators to apply this data to improve patient care, advance value-based care initiatives, and transform how diseases are prevented, diagnosed, and cured.
“Population scale omics initiatives like this hold incredible promise to accelerate new discoveries, improve human health, and advance healthcare equity for all communities. We are excited to bring our world-class sequencing technology to this important endeavor,” said Jakob Wedel, Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer of Illumina.
For more information about the Truveta Genome Project, visit truveta.com/genomics.
About Truveta
Truveta is a collective of US health systems with a mission of Saving Lives with Data, delivering the most complete, timely, and clean regulatory-grade EHR data for scientifically rigorous research. Truveta and its health system members lead the Truveta Genome Project, creating the world’s largest and most diverse genomics database to discover the science of humanity. Truveta is trusted by leading public health, life science, healthcare, and academic organizations to accelerate discovery and adoption of new therapies, improve clinical trials, and enhance patient care.
Truveta membership includes Providence, Advocate Health, Trinity Health, Tenet Healthcare, Northwell Health, AdventHealth, Baptist Health of Northeast Florida, Baylor Scott & White Health, Bon Secours Mercy Health, CommonSpirit Health, Hawaii Pacific Health, HealthPartners, Henry Ford Health, HonorHealth, Inova, Lehigh Valley Health Network, MedStar Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, MetroHealth, Novant Health, Ochsner Health, Premier Health, Saint Luke’s Health System, Sanford Health, Sentara Healthcare, Texas Health Resources, TriHealth, UnityPoint Health, Virtua Health, and WellSpan Health.
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