Firms Partner To Tackle Cancer Disparity In Nigeria

Syndicate Bio, a biotech platform company that is advancing genomics and precision medicine initiatives across the globe, has announced its strategic partnership with the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), to bridge cancer disparity gaps in Nigeria.

Through the “Cancer Genome Nigeria” project, the two firms aimed at bridging cancer disparity gaps by studying the most prevalent cancers across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones with over 300 ethnolinguistic groups.

In a press statement, made available to LEADERSHIP, Syndicate Bio founder, Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, averred that the disparities in cancer care in Nigeria and across Africa, represent an ecosystem challenge that demands tailored solutions.

Ene-Obong disclosed that Syndicate Bio’s approach forges collaborative engagement with existing healthcare systems and stakeholders as a means to drive local impact across Africa and inclusive advancements in global genomics. 

The biotech company  is leveraging collaborations with governments, pharmaceutical companies, academia and other key industry stakeholders to deepen local precision medicine impact while generating invaluable datasets that improve global health outcomes and accelerates drug discovery and development, the founder stated.

The strategic partnership will be a coordinated project to address cancer diagnosis and treatment in a game-changing way for patients in Nigeria Ene-Obong affirmed, adding that, “It is also set to pioneer the use of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)  technology in Nigeria to decode the genomic profile of prevalent cancers, and will provide patient-centric care, access to life-saving diagnostics, personalised genetic reports and therapeutics.

“Through this project, the availability and accessibility of NGS based cancer tests in the country, would pave the way for more targeted therapeutics for patients in Nigeria. For long-term and transformative care, participating physicians will be trained in precision medicine to ensure they are positioned to provide tailored treatment solutions and support genetic counselling services to the patients involved in the programme.”

Commenting on the partnership, director general, NICRAT, Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu,  said, collaborating with technical partners like Syndicate Bio, is a pivotal moment in NICRAT’s research and treatment.