Tiziana acquires bio-repository from Shardna

Tiziana bought the biobank as well as other key assets from Cagliari-based biobanking and genomics research firm Shardna for a total of €258,000.

The acquisition allows Tiziana to study a collection of DNA samples from a homogeneous and well-characterized population to better understand the ageing process.

The UK firm has also established an Italian subsidiary in Sardinia, LonGevia Genomics, to develop the assets for identifyingt novel drug targets and diagnostic applications.

The Shardna biobank has 230,000 biological samples, from nearly 13,000 fully genealogically linked residents of the Ogliastra region.

Tiziana said the genetically homogenous community has certified record data that traces back genealogy over four hundred years and is supplemented with genotyping data and clinical status.

Tiziana chairman and founder Gabriele Cerrone said: "This transaction provides access to a unique bio-repository, which we can now leverage and combine the massive power and low cost of next generation gene sequencing with the full complement of "-omics" technologies.

“The opportunity is to generate valuable insights into gene regulatory networks, genotype-phenotype linkage and gene-environment interactions that will feed into and inform our drug discovery and diagnostic programmes.”

Tiziana is engaged in the discovery and development of novel molecules that treat human disease in oncology and immunology.

Established in 2000, Shardna and was the first Italian research company in the field of genomics, created initially through a public private partnership.