The University of Oxford and Harrington Discovery Institute have announced the launch of the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre Therapeutics Accelerator with an official signing event at the University of Oxford.
David Cameron, the former UK Prime Minister, who was present at the launch event, will lead the international efforts of the Accelerator under his role as Chair of the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre Advisory Board.
The event was hosted by the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre (OHC), a partnership established in 2019 between the University of Oxford and Harrington Discovery Institute.
David Cameron said: "I know from my own experience of having a son born with an incredibly rare and incurable disease, how little we really know about rare diseases.”
Attendance at the signing included leaders from OHC, the University of Oxford, the Harrington family, University Hospitals, and Oxford Science Enterprises.
As Prime Minister and since, I have been fortunate to follow the enormous scientific breakthroughs that have taken place over the last decade
- David Cameron, ex-Prime Minister of the UK
The Accelerator is a first-in-kind, transatlantic initiative to identify, fund and advance breakthrough academic discoveries to deliver new treatments for the 400 million people worldwide who suffer from rare diseases.
Cameron continued: “Although individually they may only affect small numbers of patients like my son, Ivan, collectively they represent a major global health crisis that affects millions of patients and their families in life-changing ways.
“As Prime Minister and since, I have been fortunate to follow the enormous scientific breakthroughs that have taken place over the last decade, such as the use of genomics, which opened my eyes to how much we could know about rare diseases. That’s why I set up Genomics England and personally championed the 100,000 Genomes Project - now expanded to sequence 5 million adults across the UK.
The OHC prioritises rare genetic diseases affecting children or adults where there is urgent need and opportunity for greatest impact and that fall into the areas of rare neurological diseases, cancers and developmental diseases. Projects will be sourced from academic labs across the UK and US.
The first investment by the Accelerator was made in September 2023 in conjunction with the creation of AlveoGene, a new UK company launched to develop innovative inhaled gene therapies and transform outcomes in patients with rare respiratory diseases.
The partners are also collaborating to create a dedicated Rare Disease Impact Fund to enable investments in mission-aligned projects and accelerate the development of rare disease therapeutics.
Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and member of the OHC Steering Committee, said: "Since the creation of the OHC in 2019 we have made good progress along this path – and the hope is that by building on this foundation with this exciting new initiative, we can really create momentum to drive the translation of cutting-edge science into life-changing therapies targeting some of the most debilitating diseases.”
