Aridhia cements success with new office in Scotland’s precision medicine hub

EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM - Dec 6, 2016 - Today clinical and translational informatics company, Aridhia, celebrate the opening of its new office in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, the largest acute hospital in Western Europe.

Located in the University of Glasgow’s Clinical Innovation Zone in the hospital’s Teaching and Learning Centre alongside Stratified Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre (SMS-IC), Aridhia’s new office is home to an expanding team with a focus on data and analytics innovation in biomedical research and precision medicine.

The hospital is also soon to be the home of Scotland’s only precision medicine centre of excellence, an initiative from the UK Government’s Precision Medicine Catapult Programme, which aims to act as a hub for national and regional precision medicine activities within the UK-wide network.

Since 2014, Aridhia has worked closely with the SMS-IC, which uses AnalytiXagility as its informatics platform to collect, manage and analyse the vast volumes and diversity of data needed to realise the potential of stratified medicine.

This move places Aridhia at the heart of precision medicine activity in Scotland and enables closer collaborative working between the company, University and SMS-IC, with a focus on the development of data-driven, operational clinical services that will benefit patients within Scotland and further afield.

Chris Roche, CEO at Aridhia commented: “We are excited by the innovative and important work produced by the University and SMS-IC, and are pleased we are able to make our own valuable contribution in this field.

“Our new office puts us at the forefront of the precision medicine frontier, and it’s fulfilling to work alongside our peers in Scotland’s national hub for precision medicine, and collaborate so closely on life-changing projects.

“The work happening here in Glasgow, including projects focused on pancreatic cancer, COPD, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, will benefit millions of people around the world, finding better treatments for an array of medical conditions that are targeted to the individual’s needs, faster than ever before.

“We are delighted that our software platform service has made such a significant contribution to this work, and we look forward to continuing to assist these vital research projects, and others around the world, for many years to come.”

Aridhia already has close links with the University of Glasgow outside of precision medicine research. Since 2013 the company has been part of the CHART-ADAPT project, an Innovate UK funded collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Philips Healthcare, and the University that aims to improve the outcome of patients with traumatic brain injuries using complex data analysis.

Headquartered in Glasgow, Aridhia has delivered its data analytics platform, AnalytiXagility, to innovative medical research projects around the world since 2014. The opening of its new office secures its position as leader in this field in the UK.

The University of Glasgow’s Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, who will also deliver a welcome speech, will formally open Aridhia’s new office at a special event this evening.

Guests will be able to meet the Aridhia team, colleagues and partners from the University of Glasgow, SMS-IC and the NHS, and will be offered the chance to tour the SMS-IC.

The winners of Aridhia’s Impact in 60 Seconds competition will also be announced at the event, in partnership The University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) and Glasgow City of Science, and will receive a cash prize.

The competition encourages early-career MVLS researchers to prepare for their post-academia career by delivering a 60-second video highlighting their work in a way the public can understand. The award recognises the significance of engagement and communication between collaborations in the field of medical science.