SEATTLE and REDMOND, Wash., June
11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp.
(Nasdaq: ADPT) on Thursday launched ImmuneCODE with Microsoft
Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) to begin sharing one of the largest, most
detailed views of the immune response to COVID-19 in real time
based on de-identified data generated from thousands of COVID-19
blood samples from patients around the globe. The open database
contains detailed information on the extraordinarily diverse set of
T cells shown to specifically recognize unique features of the
COVID-19 virus, called antigens, with unprecedented speed and
scale. T cells contain a treasure trove of information that
could provide one consistent and trackable measure of the immune
response. This could help diagnose and manage COVID-19 from
exposure through clearance of the virus, and potentially offer an
accurate assessment of immunity. Data from ImmuneCODE will
accelerate ongoing global efforts to develop better diagnostics,
vaccines and therapeutics and answer important questions about the
virus to support initiatives to safely reopen society.
"In just a few months, Adaptive and Microsoft intend to generate
data for ImmuneCODE sufficient to accurately map how the adaptive
immune system responds to SARS-CoV-2 from initial exposure through
clearance by using our combined immune medicine platform and
machine learning, potentially providing an accurate assessment of
immunity," said Harlan Robins, chief
scientific officer and co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies. "The
scale and precision with which we are now able to decode the T cell
response to the virus may fundamentally change our ability to
recover from this pandemic and the way in which all viruses are
studied in the future."
Thousands of de-identified geographically and ethnically diverse
patient blood samples from institutions around the world* are
being collected and analyzed alongside samples from ImmuneRACE
(Immune Response Action to COVID-19 Events), the companies'
prospective study enrolling 1,000 participants across the U.S. to
decode how immune systems detect and respond to the
virus. Using Microsoft Azure's hyperscale cloud and machine
learning capabilities, the T cell response signature will be
continuously refined by extending the number of matches of
COVID-19-related T cells to antigens and directly associating this
T cell signature with disease and outcomes.
"Adaptive Biotechnologies' sequencing of T-cells sets up an
extremely large but manageable machine learning problem, and thus
makes it possible, for the first time, to catalog and share how our
adaptive immune system responds to viruses, including the novel
virus that causes COVID-19," said Peter
Lee, corporate vice president, Microsoft Research and
Incubation. "Making these data freely available to the global
research community through the ImmuneCODE database will deepen our
collective understanding of the human immune response and thereby
help researchers accelerate the development of news drugs and
vaccines in the fight against this global health crisis."
The role of the T cell
Although most efforts to look at the immune response are focused
on the B cell or the virus itself, this approach is different
because it focuses on the T cell. T cells are the adaptive immune
system's first responders to detect any virus. They quickly
multiply and circulate in the blood to attack the virus, often
before symptoms appear. Among many other jobs, T cells also recruit
B cells to produce antibodies after about a week or two to
potentially provide immunity against future infection.
To date, testing for COVID-19 has either been in the form of a
viral test to detect the presence of the virus or a serology test
to detect the presence of antibodies to signal prior infection. An
in-depth understanding of the T cell response to the COVID-19 virus
has a variety of different applications. That in-depth
understanding may improve accuracy in the existing testing paradigm
or potentially provide an assessment of immunity. Additionally, it
is possible that identifying and tracking T cell response may
provide insight as to the severity of a patient's illness, the
length of any post-infection immunity period, and the potential
efficacy of vaccines in development.
As Adaptive generates these data, subsequent updates to
ImmuneCODE will provide an increasingly clearer picture of the
immune response to the COVID-19 virus. This includes analyzing the
immune responses from thousands of infected individuals, linking T
cell responses to viral antigens and patient outcomes, and tracking
the immune response. In addition to making these data freely
available, Adaptive is conducting its own research to develop a new
kind of diagnostic looking specifically at the T cell response to
the COVID-19 virus.
About ImmuneCODE
ImmuneCODE is an open database that provides a detailed
population-level view into the adaptive immune response to the
COVID-19 virus. Adaptive Biotechnologies and Microsoft are making
these data freely available to any researcher, public health
official or organization around the world to accelerate solutions
to the global pandemic. The database contains detailed information
on the virus-specific T cells as well as the virus-related antigens
they recognize. The T cell responses to these antigens will be
tracked across the population to create an immune response
signature using thousands of de-identified samples combined from
organizations around the globe and ImmuneRACE, the virtual clinical
study launched in May to help in the race to find a solution to
COVID-19.
De-identified blood samples from ImmuneRACE, including patients
who were actively infected, recovered or were recently exposed to
the virus, are being collected by LabCorp, through its Covance drug
development business, using a mobile phlebotomy service. Immune
cell receptors from these samples are being sequenced using
Illumina platform technology and mapped to virus-specific antigens
that are confirmed by Adaptive's proprietary immune medicine
platform to induce an immune response. These study data are being
pooled with data from thousands of additional unique de-identified
patient samples from many institutions around the world. Using
Microsoft Azure's hyperscale cloud and machine learning
capabilities, the accuracy of the immune response will be
continuously improved and updated online in real time as more
samples are sequenced.
* Providence, a large health
system with 51 hospitals, including the one near Seattle that treated the first U.S. COVID-19
patient, is an initial clinical collaborator. Other participating
institutions include Institute for Systems Biology (ISB),
BloodWorks Northwest, Hospital 12 de Octubre, i+12/CNIO
(Madrid, Spain), Istituto
Scientifico Romagnolo per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori (IRST)
IRCCS (Meldola, FC – Italy) /
AUSL-Romagna and Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and
Specialty Medicine (DIMES), and Università di Bologna (Italy). This list is growing as we continue to
work with other investigators globally to collect and sequence
valuable patient cohorts. Institutions or collaborators interested
in contributing blood samples can direct inquiries to
COVID19ImmuneResponse@adaptivebiotech.com.
About the Adaptive and Microsoft partnership
Adaptive and Microsoft partnered in 2018 to create a TCR-Antigen
Map, an approach to translating the genetics of the massive
adaptive immune system to understand how it works. Together we are
using immunosequencing at scale and machine learning to map T-cell
receptor (TCR) sequences to diseases and disease-associated
antigens. Using these data, we aim to develop a blood test for the
early and accurate detection of many diseases, translating the
natural diagnostic capability of the immune system into the clinic.
In 2019, we confirmed clinical signals in two diseases, and
established our first proof of concept in Lyme disease. We expect
to submit our first clinical application to the FDA in
2020.
About Adaptive Biotechnologies
Adaptive Biotechnologies is a commercial-stage biotechnology
company focused on harnessing the inherent biology of the adaptive
immune system to transform the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
We believe the adaptive immune system is nature's most finely tuned
diagnostic and therapeutic for most diseases, but the inability to
decode it has prevented the medical community from fully leveraging
its capabilities. Our proprietary immune medicine platform reveals
and translates the massive genetics of the adaptive immune system
with scale, precision and speed to develop products in life
sciences research, clinical diagnostics, and drug discovery. We
have two commercial products, and a robust clinical pipeline to
diagnose, monitor and enable the treatment of diseases such as
cancer, autoimmune conditions and infectious diseases. Our goal is
to develop and commercialize immune-driven clinical products
tailored to each individual patient. For more information, please
visit adaptivebiotech.com and follow us on
www.twitter.com/adaptivebiotech.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently
available to Adaptive. All statements contained in the press
release other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the
ability to map adaptive immune responses to COVID-19, the ability
to successfully collect a sufficient number and quality of samples
through ImmuneRACE, the ability to efficiently and effectively
process data with ImmuneCODE, to leverage any findings or data to
advance solutions to diagnose, treat and prevent COVID-19, the
ability to develop, commercialize and achieve market acceptance of
the Adaptive's TCR-Antigen Map and other current and planned
products and services, research and development efforts. These
statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may
cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from the information
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, which are
described under "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and
elsewhere in the documents Adaptive files with the Securities and
Exchange Commission from time to time.
About Illumina
Illumina is improving human health by unlocking the power of the
genome. Our focus on innovation has established us as the global
leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, serving
customers in the research, clinical, and applied markets. Our
products are used for applications in the life sciences, oncology,
reproductive health, agriculture, and other emerging segments. To
learn more, visit www.illumina.com and follow
@illumina.
About LabCorp
LabCorp (NYSE: LH), an S&P 500 company, is a leading global
life sciences company that is deeply integrated in guiding patient
care, providing comprehensive clinical laboratory and end-to-end
drug development services. With a mission to improve health and
improve lives, LabCorp delivers world-class diagnostics solutions,
brings innovative medicines to patients faster, and uses technology
to improve the delivery of care. LabCorp reported revenue of more
than $11.5 billion in 2019. To learn more about LabCorp,
visit www.LabCorp.com, and to learn more about LabCorp's
Covance drug development business, visit
www.Covance.com.
About Providence
Providence is a national,
not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family
of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human
right. With 51 hospitals, 1,085 physician clinics, senior services,
supportive housing and many other health and educational services,
the health system and its partners employ more than 120,000
caregivers serving communities across seven states
– Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas,
and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine,
Calif.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adaptive-biotechnologies-and-microsoft-launch-groundbreaking-immunecode-database-to-share-populationwide-immune-response-to-the-covid-19-virus-301074349.html
SOURCE Microsoft Corporation