Structural Genomics Consortium expands as open source approach gains new adherents

New Canadian funding under discussion

The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) has expanded to the US, Brazil, Germany and Sweden as it ramps up its open source identification of 3D protein structures to assist in the discovery of new medicines. Headquartered at the Univ of Toronto, the consortium is gaining new adherents as it nears the end of its third phase and lines up funding beyond 2016.

SGC has gained widespread recognition and financial support for its public-private partnership and open source policy which places all discoveries in the public domain. Structured like a corporation, the model has been embraced by the pharmaceutical industry to help address the diminishing returns of its own R&D efforts.

While SGC's Brazilian, German and US sites are relatively new, Sweden's participation through the Karolinska Institutet marks a return to SGC after a period of inactivity. Canada's leadership and participation has been relatively stable through to Phase III with major support federally from Genome Canada and the Ontario government through the Ministry of Research and Innovation.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research supported the consortium through its first decade but has withdrawn, although many SGC-affiliated researchers continue to compete for and win CIHR funding.

Phase III funding totalled approximately $160 million and Phase IV is projected to operate with about $150 million.

SGC is currently in discussions with Genome Canada and MRI to determine whether their support will extend beyond March 31/16. For Phase III the two funding bodies provided $20 million over four years.

Canadian support pending

SGC director and CEO Dr Aled Edwards says renewed support is critical to maintain Canada's leadership within the organization.

"Canada needs to participate. We have had incredible support and this is a Canadian success story that has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from industry," says Edwards.

"Over the last decade, the SGC has emerged as perhaps the leading example of a pre-competitive consortium with industry … Societal and industry needs align perfectly. That's the rationale," he says. "We found a model in which basic science is funded by multiple sectors. Dozens of clinical trials have been generated."

The ebb and flow of public funding and membership aside, support continues to grow from industry and not-for-profit groups like the CDHI Foundation (Huntington's disease) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (tuberculosis and malaria).

"The Gates funding is for a discovery project with labs around the world," says Edwards. "Part of being in Canada allows us to be viewed as a trusted management partner ... New drugs are the goal and they invested in us to lead a global initiative.

A second award from the Gates Foundation worth $5 million is imminent.

EU support through IMI

The largest new funding envelope comes from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), which announced in May that it was allocating £42 million to the SGC-spearheaded ULTRA-DD (Unrestricted Leveraging of Targets for Research Advancement and Drug Discovery) consortium. ULTRA-DD consists of 10 SGC partners and companies with the objective of defining and validating new targets for drug discovery. They will be profiled in models of human inflammatory and auto-immune diseases using patient and human primary-cell derived assays and tissue.

"There's a perception of Canada being generous and trustworthy. Open source leads to collaboration around the world," says Edwards. "SGC is as much a social movement as a scientific undertaking ... Industry is a willing participant and some governments are stepping up and providing $2 for every industry dollar."

Genome Canada

From a federal perspective, Genome Canada has been SGC's largest supporter, providing $41.1 million since the consortium's inception in 2003. Most recently, Genome Canada awarded $5 million over two years ending March 31/17.

Due to the nature of the agency's funding, however, it can't commit to supporting SGC beyond that 2017 until the federal government announces renewed financing, expected in the next federal Budget.

The situation with Ontario's MRI is similar. MRI awarded $47.1 million over the first three phases and discussions are ongoing for Phase IV.

"Genome Canada is very committed to SGC. It's a flagship public-private partnership and is in a perfect place in Canada," says Genome Canada president and CEO Dr Pierre Meulien. "The problem is with cyclical funder like ourselves ... We can't commit to five years of funding and I'm sure Aled is under pressure."

Meulien says once Genome Canada's next federal funding tranche is announced, it can make a three- or four-year commitment, although he adds that there are no guarantees and all awards are subject to peer review.

Industry Canada supportive

According to Meulien, Industry Canada considers SGC a "highly performing and great model" for public-private collaboration and he has suggested it consider utilizing the model for other sectors.

"We have a baby one in the energy sector at Genome Canada and it could also apply to mining," he says. "SGC is a knowledge generator and it gets things done 10 times faster ... I'm confident the (Canadian) public funders will come through."

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