January 28, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
SEATTLE -- Internet powerhouse Google Inc. and multiple sclerosis drug maker Biogen Idec have teamed up to closely research and address environmental and genetic factors that can cause the debilitating disease multiple sclerosis, the companies said this week.
The study will take a proactive examination of the factors that may cause multiple sclerosis to “understand disease at its onset” and see if early intervention is possible, Andre Conrad, head of Google X, the company’s life sciences division, said in a released statement. Data gathered will help Biogen create more effective medications to combat MS.
Rick Rudick, Biogen’s vice president of development sciences, said the project will allow researchers to “collect and sift through data from multiple sclerosis patients using sensors, software, as well as data analysis tools in order to understand the different progress mechanics of the disease with different patients,” said in a statement. Some MS patients can live active lifestyles years after their diagnosis, while others can end up in nursing homes, Rudick said.
The companies are looking at different ways to collect “round-the-clock” data on patients through various technological innovations, such as fit bands or an iPad app.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen is one of the leading MS drug makers with medications such as Avonex and Tysabri. In 2013 the U.S. government approved Tecfidera, Biogen’s oral MS medication.
Multiple sclerosis is a disease affecting the central nervous system that can cause difficulty in movement, vision and even death, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. The cause of MS is unknown, however, the most common theories are MS occurs in patients who are genetically susceptible and can be triggered by some environmental factors, according to the CDC.
There are an estimated 2.5 million cases of MS across the globe, with approximately 400,000 cases of multiple sclerosis in the United States, with about 10,000 new cases diagnosed each year, according to the website multiplesclerosis.net. However, the disease has been diagnosed all over the world, with the highest number of cases in North America, Europe and Australia.
Multiple sclerosis usually takes four different courses of progression, including the most common called relapsing-remitting, where the patient goes through periods alternating between remission and relapse. That type impacts 85 percent of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, according to the CDC.
This is not Google’s first foray into the health care industry. The company created Google Genomics, a system that allows hospitals, research facilities and universities to store and share genomic data. Earlier this week Google announced thousands of data points have already been uploaded onto the platform.
Additionally Google has teamed with Duke University to work on a project to measure and reclassify diseases in two North Carolina counties.
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