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Genome Canada and Oxford Nanopore Technologies team up to advance genomics research in Canada
Collaboration will build on Oxford Nanopore’s ongoing investment in Canada and support future research initiatives aimed at addressing health disparities
Oxford, UK & Ottawa, Can. – March 5, 2025 – Genome Canada and Oxford Nanopore Technologies today announced a collaboration aimed at significantly enhancing genomics research across Canada. Through the Canadian Precision Health Initiative (CPHI), the collaboration will help researchers and clinicians build a comprehensive database of human genomic insights, enhancing the understanding of Canada's diverse genetic architecture to drive innovation and advancements in personalized precision health research.
Genome Canada is Canada’s largest funding body tasked with advancing genomics-based research across health, agriculture, and the environment. By fostering collaboration amongst academic, public, private, and non-profit sectors, Genome Canada accelerates the development of innovative solutions to tackle critical challenges such as climate change, food security, and health disparities.
"Our collaboration with Genome Canada is a promising step in our goal to expand access globally to richer genomic insights enabled by the Oxford Nanopore platform,” said Gordon Sanghera, CEO of Oxford Nanopore. “We are excited to collaborate with researchers to enhance understanding of the rich genetic diversity within Canada’s population and unlock advanced multiomic insights on a unified platform. Together, our aim is to support critical discoveries that will shape the future of precision medicine in Canada."
“The Canadian Precision Health Initiative unites visionary scientists and leaders from across sectors on a shared mission to redefine health care for our country,” said Rob Annan, President and CEO of Genome Canada. “We are thrilled to have Canadian and global technology leaders like Oxford Nanopore Technologies join this landmark collaboration to accelerate transformative health innovation.”
Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing technology is uniquely positioned to drive innovation in Canadian genomics. With its ability to deliver richer data and faster insights accessibly and affordably, Oxford Nanopore is providing unparalleled value across a range of applications, including human population scale cohorts, agriculture and infectious disease.
For large-scale population studies, Oxford Nanopore’s platform offers a flexible, low-cost solution with the ability to sequence telomere-to-telomere (T2T) genomes without the need for supplemental technology providers. This enables comprehensive, multiomic insights into human genomic diversity, making it possible to uncover critical genetic variants across diverse populations, including underrepresented groups. The PromethION range, which requires minimal infrastructure, allow researchers to sequence whole genomes at speed, generating rich, accurate data for a wide range of studies, from rare diseases to complex trait analysis.
Oxford Nanopore and CPHI are dedicated to enabling the sequencing of over 10,000 genomes, delivering richer, multiomic data to advance research initiatives aimed at uncovering a deeper understanding of human genetic variation and discovering overlooked insights that could pave the way for more precise and targeted treatments and therapies. This initiative is intended to drive critical advancements in precision health to improve lives across the country. By increasing genomic knowledge of indigenous and other historically underrepresented populations in Canada, this work will also promote health equity and provide better standards of care.
This collaboration builds on Oxford Nanopore’s ongoing investment in the genomics ecosystem in Canada, including its acquisition of Northern Nanopore Instruments, collaboration with BugSeq and the creation of a Canadian entity to support the nation’s growing and diverse genomic userbase.
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About Genome Canada
Genome Canada turns genomics breakthroughs into solutions that improve lives and drive sustainable economic growth across sectors. We leverage our unique position as the leader of Canada’s genomics community, with national scope and regional partnerships, to accelerate development and adoption of one of the world’s most transformative technologies. Our work unites industry, academia and government to bridge research excellence with real-world impact. Learn more at www.genomecanada.ca.
About Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Oxford Nanopore Technologies’ goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for real-time, high-performance, accessible and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 120 countries to understand the biology of humans and diseases such as cancer, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, and whole environments. Oxford Nanopore Technologies products are intended for molecular biology applications and are not intended for diagnostic purposes.
For more, visit: https://nanoporetech.com/