Somagen Secures Additional Approximately 3.1 Billion KRW for Global Parkinson's Disease Research 'GP2' Project

Somagen, a US multi-omics specialized analysis company, announced on the 21st (local US time) that it has signed a one-year contract worth a total of $2.4 million (approximately 3.1 billion KRW) with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) services.

The total amount of this contract is approximately $2.4 million, accounting for about 7.2% of the previous year's annual sales. The contracting party is the Michael J. Fox Foundation, a global leader in Parkinson's disease research. The company stated that the volume of this contract is only a very small part of the large-scale research volume conducted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation under the Global Parkinson's Genetics Program (GP2), and additional orders are also expected.

GP2 is a large-scale global project promoted by the Accelerating Medicines Partnership Parkinson's Disease (ASAP), a global Parkinson's disease collaborative research consortium focused on analyzing the genetic structure to understand the fundamental causes of Parkinson's disease. GP2 has formed a global research community to quickly address the research demands necessary to overcome Parkinson's disease, and currently, more than 150 member organizations worldwide participate in collecting samples and data for Parkinson's disease-related research.

Since 2020, Somagen has participated in the US government-led GP2 project together with the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Through participation in this project, Somagen has obtained Parkinson's disease patient samples from member organizations worldwide and conducted genomic sequencing analysis, leading the provision of genomic analysis services aimed at identifying the causes of Parkinson's disease and discovering treatments.

Matt Krymer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Somagen, said, “The main success factor for winning this project was the mutual trust built through continuous collaboration with researchers, coordinators, and related foundations of the GP2 program.” He added, “By maintaining qualifications to participate in national or global-level projects such as CLIA and CAP certifications and ISO certifications, and consistently providing high-quality genomic analysis results to US government agencies and the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Somagen was able to become a key partner in this large-scale project and research consortium.”

In addition to participating in this global Parkinson's disease research project, Somagen has continuously participated in national projects led by the US government as a clinical research organization (CRO) providing genomic analysis for various disease research programs and neurological disease conditions since 2014. Notably, prior to this contract, Somagen signed a contract in the third quarter of this year with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to supply whole genome sequencing (WGS) services for 10,000 Alzheimer's patients, worth approximately 4.9 billion KRW.

Hong Soo, CEO of Somagen, stated, “By successfully securing another large contract related to the global Parkinson's disease project with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Somagen can reaffirm its strong collaborative relationships with US government agencies, ASAP, and GP2 partner organizations for genomic analysis.” He added, “Somagen sympathizes with the mission of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which actively supports and participates in the global Parkinson's disease project, and it is an honor to join the worldwide efforts to understand and confirm treatments for Parkinson's disease.”