Broad and Bayer Expand Partnership, Launch New Research Effort

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Bayer are launching the Precision Cardiology Laboratory (PCL), a new endeavor that will pursue scientific insights aimed at developing new therapies for heart failure. According to the American Heart Association, more than 900,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure every year in the United States. The condition, which results from the failure of the heart to pump enough blood, is one of the most common reasons for hospitalization among adults. There are many causes of heart failure, and the Precision Cardiology Laboratory will use new tools and methods to more fully understand and treat them.

Research in the new PCL will bring scientists from both organizations into an integrated work space at the Broad Institute, effectively combining Broad’s innovative methods for basic scientific discovery and the clinical expertise of its practicing physician/researchers with Bayer’s long history of drug development. The effort will be led by Broad Associate Member Patrick Ellinor, who directs the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Mass General and is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The Broad-Bayer partnership began in 2013 with an oncology program. In 2015, the organizations launched a cardiovascular-specific collaboration aimed at using genomics to better understand cardiovascular disease. Now, the PCL will use non-genomic approaches to jumpstart the development of new therapeutics for heart failure. Through this expanded partnership, Bayer is dedicating an additional $22 million to the collaboration over the next five years.

“The Broad Institute is an important and strategic partner for Bayer, enabling us to deepen our understanding in the area of cardiovascular diseases and we are looking forward to extending our collaboration further,” said Joerg Moeller, Member of the Executive Committee of Bayer AG’s Pharmaceuticals Division and Head of Research and Development. “Joint laboratories are a novel partnering model for industry and academia and are bringing both Bayer and Broad cardiovascular research to the next level.”

The PCL will be guided by a joint steering committee. Ultimately, the lab will involve roughly 20 people with affiliations divided between the two organizations. The institutions will continue to openly share findings that arise from the collaboration through both publicly-available datasets and academic journals. (Source and Photo: Broad Institute Website, 29 June, 2018)