The pioneering UK Biobank genetics database has won donations of $10mn each from former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and billionaire investor Ken Griffin, highlighting the excitement about its potential to yield breakthroughs in combating diseases.
The funding, which is due to be announced on Monday, will be matched by the UK government and used to leverage more investments in the 17-year-old project with its record half a million participants.
The donations are a sign of the interest of medical researchers, drugs companies and other observers in the biobank, which is an unusually rich information source to investigate conditions from cardiac disorders to Alzheimer’s.
Read the full story on the Financial Times here.