On June 29, 2016 Foundation Medicine, Inc. (NASDAQ:FMI) reported that the company will release approximately 18,000 genomic profiles of adult cancers from its FoundationCORE knowledgebase to the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Genomic Data Commons portal (GDC) (Press release, Foundation Medicine, JUN 29, 2016, View Source [SID:1234513616]). This contribution of de-identified and HIPPA-compliant genomics information represents the largest public data release of its kind to the NCI, more than doubling the size of the NCI’s GDC database. The genomics information is being contributed in an effort to facilitate increased collaboration and accelerate research in precision medicine with the goal of advancing patient care. The announcement was made today to coincide with Cancer Moonshot summits being held across the country.

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"This major infusion of data in the GDC will greatly enhance our ability to use this tool to explore genetic abnormalities in cancer," said Douglas Lowy, M.D., NCI Acting Director. "Through TCGA and TARGET, we had already established a strong cancer genomic foundation for the GDC at its launch, but with the addition of the genomic data from Foundation Medicine, we believe that the GDC will be an even more useful resource for researchers worldwide to help us unravel the complexities of many forms of cancer."

Run by the NCI, a part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), the GDC is a new unified data system to facilitate sharing of genomic and clinical data among researchers. It was launched earlier this month as a core component of the National Cancer Moonshot and the Precision Medicine Initiative. FoundationCORE is one of the largest and most robust knowledgebases, containing comprehensive genomic information and insights from more than 80,000 real-world clinical cases. FoundationCORE continuously evolves over time, informed by every new tumor profiled with the company’s clinical assays, FoundationOne, FoundationOne Heme and FoundationACT.

"We’re honored to participate in this important global effort to transform patient care and to be the first commercial entity to contribute data to the NCI’s GDC, which we believe underscores the quality, integrity and richness of the genomics information contained in FoundationCORE," said Vincent Miller, M.D., chief medical officer, Foundation Medicine. "The amount of genomics information within FoundationCORE has reached unparalleled scale. The insights gleaned from this data release will be instrumental in accelerating research and development efforts for targeted agents and immunotherapies."

This collaboration with the NCI marks the second public release of information from FoundationCORE this year. In February, Foundation Medicine announced the first ever public release of its pediatric data to stimulate research and development of precision therapies to fight cancer in children. The data set has received a substantial number of inquiries from around the world since the information was made available for research use.

Foundation Medicine is participating in local Cancer Moonshot summits being held across the country today, including at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, PA and Tufts Medical Center, in Boston, MA.