Three Indiana-based organizations — Indiana University in Bloomington, Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis and LifeOmic in Indianapolis — entered into a precision medicine collaboration.
LifeOmic researchers will work with scientists at IU and Regenstrief to develop a "data commons" to store genetic and medical data for millions of patients. The goal is to create a platform researchers and clinicians in Indiana can access to investigate personalized medicine.
Under the agreement, for-profit cloud technology company LifeOmic will receive a blanket license to own a range of intellectual property owned by IU and Regenstrief. IU and Regenstrief will also receive a minority equity position in LifeOmic.
The goal of the agreement is to remove "traditional barriers between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations," according to a Regenstrief statement. For example, it will streamline the ability of individual investigators at IU and Regenstrief to collaborate with LifeOmic on other projects.
"The problems and challenges we are facing in healthcare today are too big to be solved by any one institution," said Anantha Shekhar, MD, PhD, associate vice president of research for university clinical affairs at IU and executive associate dean for research affairs at Indianapolis-based IU School of Medicine.
"My vision is to forge more industry partnerships like this with minimal bureaucratic barriers to collaborations, so we can tap into the expertise we need to serve patients in Indiana and elsewhere," Dr. Shekhar said.