Global Genomics Group has announced that it has completed enrolment of the 5,000-patient discovery cohort of its GLOBAL (genetic loci and burden of atherosclerotic lesions) clinical study. Pilot data for the first cohort of patients are expected later this year.
According to a press release, the GLOBAL study, designed to identify disease-related pathways, new drug targets and biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, enrolled 5,000 patients in the discovery group, with approximately 2,500 patients in the control group and approximately 2,500 patients in the case group. Precision phenotyping is conducted with cardiovascular computed tomography, including calcium scoring and computed tomography angiography, an advanced, non-invasive imaging technology. A pan-omic analysis that includes whole genome sequencing, whole genome methylation, whole transcriptome sequencing, unbiased proteomics, metabolomics and lipidomics, will be conducted for every patient. The data will be analysed with systems biology driven bioinformatics.
The GLOBAL study is enrolling patients at 48 institutions in nine countries and across three continents. The investigators anticipate enrolling an additional 2,000 patients in the validation cohort, with approximately 1,000 patients in the disease group and 1,000 in the control group, the press release reports.
Stephen Bloom, Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists, Kansas City, USA, a principal investigator of the study, says, “Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and the biological pathways leading to atherosclerosis – the primary reason for heart attacks and stroke – remain largely unknown. The GLOBAL study is the most ambitious study ever undertaken to investigate the root cause of this complex disease and may not only provide us with new biomarkers and drug targets, but it will also provide us with a platform for early screening, continued monitoring of risk, prevention and early intervention.”
