As omics data continues to grow globally, the need for secure, collaborative data sharing has never been greater. The recent Nature article titled "A call to action to scale up research and clinical genomic data sharing" highlights a critical need in the field of genomics: the lowering of barriers to enable large-scale, global data sharing. The article underscores that global collaboration and federated data sharing models are essential to optimizing the benefits of growing volumes of multimodal clinico-omics data. For biopharma, this means greater potential for biomarker discovery and a more extractive use of clinical trial data, turning it into a reusable asset for ongoing discovery and innovation efforts. DNAnexus, as a leader in this space, provides solutions that specifically address these biopharma challenges, enabling R&D productivity gains through secure and scalable collaboration.
The Need for Collaboration and Data Sharing
Omics research has made significant advances, but progress is often hindered by fragmented data and isolated research efforts. The Nature article points out that while global data from millions of individuals has been generated, leveraging this data collectively remains a challenge. Key barriers include varying technical standards, diverse consent frameworks, and the sheer scale of data management. For omics research to reach its full potential, the article argues that we must embrace data-sharing models that respect privacy while enabling broad collaboration across borders.
Best Practices for Scaling Research with Genomic Data
The article outlines several key actions that research institutions and policymakers can take to scale up omics data sharing and collaboration. At DNAnexus, we have seen firsthand how the following best practices can accelerate the progress of omics research:
- Interoperability through standards: The use of universal data formats and standards, such as those developed by GA4GH, is essential for facilitating cross-institutional and cross-border research efforts.
- Privacy-preserving data access: Implementing federated data-sharing techniques ensures that researchers can access and analyze data while respecting local privacy laws and participant consent requirements.
- Cloud-based Trusted Research Environments: As highlighted in the article, TREs are a critical tool in democratizing access to genomics data by lowering technical barriers and enabling remote data analysis.
Unlocking Value from Clinical Trial Data
Biopharma companies generate vast amounts of clinical trial data that, too often, remain siloed or underutilized. The Nature article highlights the necessity of overcoming these barriers through federated approaches that allow secure cross-cohort analyses. By making clinical trial data reusable, biopharma can continuously extract insights, such as discovering new biomarkers, beyond the initial scope of the trial. This not only improves the return on investment in trials but also accelerates drug discovery by enabling researchers, both internal and external, to work with the same high-quality datasets. DNAnexus’s platform empowers biopharma companies to achieve this by providing secure, cloud-based Trusted Research Environments (TREs) that facilitate federated analyses while maintaining rigorous security and compliance standards.
Biopharma Innovation and R&D Productivity
External innovation is increasingly crucial for biopharma R&D productivity, with partnerships and collaborations driving new discoveries. However, these partnerships demand secure, scalable environments for data sharing. The Nature article stresses the importance of secure collaboration models, particularly federated data-sharing systems, which allow data custodians to retain control over their datasets while enabling external researchers to perform analysis. For biopharma, this ensures that sensitive clinical and linked molecular data, such as genomics data, can be shared and analyzed by external partners, opening new avenues for innovation without sacrificing security or regulatory compliance. DNAnexus’s TREs, such as the UK Biobank’s Research Analysis Platform and the Our Future Health UK platform, provide exactly this kind of secure environment, allowing biopharma to foster external innovation and drive R&D efficiencies. Dedicated DNAnexus TREs can also quickly be stood up for a pharmaceutical organization’s internal data.
Data Sharing for Biomarker Discovery
One of the greatest promises of genomic data is its potential to accelerate biomarker discovery. The article underscores how federated models of data sharing can enable cross-cohort analysis, helping researchers identify patterns and associations that may not be visible within a single dataset. For biopharma, this means that data from clinical trials, real-world evidence, and even population health studies can be combined and analyzed without the need for risky and complex data transfers. This not only accelerates biomarker discovery, but also enables more personalized and effective therapeutic strategies. DNAnexus enables robust and secure data-sharing models within its TREs, ensuring that biopharma researchers can access the insights they need, while still maintaining control over sensitive data.
DNAnexus: Enabling Biopharma to Scale Research Securely
As biopharma continues to push the boundaries of precision medicine, secure and scalable data-sharing models are critical. DNAnexus’s solutions provide the infrastructure needed to scale up research efforts, allowing biopharma organizations to engage in secure cross-cohort analysis, extract more value from clinical trial data, and drive biomarker discovery. The TRE we built for the UK Biobank, which provides secure access to data from over 500,000 participants, and our upcoming work with Our Future Health UK, which will host data from over 1 million participants, are prime examples of how we are empowering biopharma to achieve scalable, secure collaboration.
Conclusion: A New Era for Biopharma Innovation
The future of biopharma depends on its ability to scale up secure, collaborative data sharing. The Nature article makes clear that federated, cloud-based approaches are key to overcoming current barriers, enabling cross-cohort analyses that can unlock the true potential of genomic and clinical data. For biopharma, this translates into faster biomarker discovery, reusable clinical trial data, and external innovation opportunities that drive R&D productivity. DNAnexus remains committed to providing the tools and environments that biopharma organizations need to make secure, scalable data sharing a reality.
