UK to create world-first 'early warning system' for pandemics

The UK will create the world's first real-time surveillance system to monitor the threat of future pandemics, prevent disease, and protect the public.

Plans have been announced to form a new partnership between the government, Genomics England, UK Biobank, NHS England, and Oxford Nanopore – a UK-headquartered, world-leading life sciences company. 

Oxford Nanopore uses long read sequencing technology to analyse genes and pathogens to rapidly diagnose a range of cancers, along with rare and infectious diseases. The technology can sequence long strands of DNA or RNA in one go, without breaking it up into smaller fragments.

In infectious diseases, Oxford Nanopore's technology will help to create an early warning system for future pandemics and potential biological threats, both preventing disease and protecting the public.

It will be used in the expansion of NHS England's Respiratory Metagenomics programme, being led by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT). It uses samples from patients with severe respiratory infections and rapid genetic testing to match those patients with the right treatments within 6 hours.

This novel and world-leading application, developed in partnership with the NHS, will allow potential outbreaks of bacterial or viral diseases to be monitored alongside antimicrobial resistance across the country. 

Following an initial successful pilot at St Thomas' Hospital, the technology will now be rolled out from 10 to up to 30 NHS sites to address the current time lag between new pathogens emerging in the UK and action being taken to both treat affected patients and to prevent their spread, which will benefit people everywhere.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

If we fail to prepare, we should prepare to fail. Our NHS was already on its knees when the pandemic struck, and it was hit harder than any other comparable healthcare system.

We cannot let history repeat itself. That's why this historic partnership with Oxford Nanopore will ensure our world-leading scientists have the latest information on emerging threats at their fingertips.

As we embrace the technological revolution, our 10-Year Health Plan will shift the NHS away from analogue to digital, saving countless more lives.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

During the Covid pandemic, we saw the power of the UK life sciences sector very clearly, from the Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine that saved so many lives, through to operating one of the world's most effective Covid surveillance systems, which spotted several emerging variants of the disease.

This partnership will build on that expertise to monitor emerging diseases as they arise, putting our scientists and decision-makers one-step ahead and providing the information they need to make informed decisions.

Together with the ability to better diagnose cancers and rare diseases, we are leveraging UK life sciences to protect the public and ultimately save lives.

Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor at UK Health Security Agency, said:

Early detection is absolutely crucial in enabling us to respond effectively to any emerging pathogen. The UK already has a wealth of expertise in genomic surveillance, and this programme will build on that expertise and enable us to bring our resources and capability to tackle developing threats at greater speed. Enhancing the capacity for the NHS to determine new and emerging pathogens causing severe acute respiratory infections will improve the detection and emergence of infections.

As part of the 100 days mission, this will enable the development of effective diagnostics for novel pathogens and enhance our pandemic preparedness.

Oxford Nanopore CEO Gordon Sanghera said:

The UK has a remarkable life science ecosystem, and we are delighted to be working more closely with the UK government and the NHS in this collaboration.

The world-renowned Genomics England and UK Biobank have led the way in scaling genomics discovery and translating these advances into patient impact.

By working alongside our partners on shared goals of improved patient outcomes – whether in cancer, genetic disease or infectious disease – and pandemic preparedness, we believe we can deploy our unique DNA sequencing technology in ways that are most impactful for the people of the UK.

Professor Ian Abbs, chief executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, said:

We've been working on the respiratory metagenomics programme for over 4 years and have clearly seen the benefit to our patients. It's a momentous day now that we can ensure other hospitals, and more patients, can also benefit from faster and more accurate treatment for severe respiratory conditions thanks to new genomic technology.

As part of the expansion to the metagenomics programme, the data gathered using Oxford Nanopore's technology will be provided to the UK Health and Security Agency, allowing quicker detection and action on emerging infectious diseases to be taken.

The collaboration between the government and Oxford Nanopore - which will also join up Genomics England and UK Biobank with NHS England - is another key vote of confidence in the UK's life sciences sector, which will help kickstart economic growth and support the 10-Year Health Plan's ambition to shift the health service from analogue to digital and from sickness to prevention, helping keep patients out of hospital. 

Genomics England will work strategically with Oxford Nanopore to further insights from the data they hold, including on cancer and rare diseases, to enable future breakthroughs in identifying genomic mutations that may be treatable and preventing these devastating conditions. UK Biobank will also continue to work with Oxford Nanopore and the government to improve the insights from their data and translate these into impact for NHS patients.

Along with the vast benefits to patients, this work will drive economic growth, supporting the expansion of one of our most promising life sciences companies. 

This partnership comes hot on the heels of the Budget, where the government announced investment of £40m over 5 years in a Proof of Concept Fund for spinouts, companies formed based on academic research generated within and owned by a university. 

This will build on the excellent example set by Oxford Nanopore, one of the UK's most successful spinout companies, having been founded at Oxford University in 2005. This fund could help to unleash a raft of innovative new spinouts like Oxford Nanopore, helping to drive job creation and economic growth.