Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Broad Institute and Amgen announced that they have launched a strategic collaboration to jointly discover and validate new therapeutic targets and develop novel therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic disorder that affects millions worldwide. The MGH-Broad-Amgen collaboration brings together scientists with expertise in clinical medicine, IBD biology, human genetics, genomic technology and drug discovery to work together to help create a new world of therapeutic options for IBD patients. IBD is well known to run in families, suggesting that genes play a significant role in the development and progression of disease.

However, until recently, almost nothing was known about the specific genes and mechanisms that predispose or protect someone from developing the disorder. The MGH-Broad-Amgen collaboration will leverage the shared expertise of its participating scientists and partner institutions to discover and develop novel therapies for IBD. The effort will include collection and analysis of patient DNA samples to identify and further validate genetic targets, biological assays to probe gene function, and subsequent drug discovery and development activities.

A joint steering committee will be formed to select and guide projects.