Written by:
Vice President of AstraZeneca's Centre for Genomics Research (CGR), Discovery Sciences, R&D, AstraZeneca
Vice President and Head of Translational Science & Experimental Medicine, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), AstraZeneca
Vice President and Head of Translational Science and Experimental Medicine, Respiratory and Immunology, AstraZeneca
Genomics offers scientists an extraordinary ability to explore human health by decoding insights within our DNA to develop medicines that can target the root causes of disease. But to truly understand the complexity of human disease, researchers are advancing beyond the genome. Enter multi-omics—the integration of genomics with other biological data such as proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics.
The study of genomics on a population scale allows scientists to decode individuals’ unique genetic blueprints to identify genetic variation linked to disease risk; but it tells only part of the story. Multi-omics goes a step further, combining layers of biological data from RNA expression, protein levels, and metabolic pathways, together with genomic and clinical information.
Through our internal and collaborative research, we are harnessing insights from this integrated approach to provide a richer, more comprehensive view of human biology, enabling deeper insights into health and chronic disease.
UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project
As founding members of the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project, we are collaborating with companies across the globe on the world’s largest study of proteins circulating the human body.
Cambridge life science ecosystem
We have strong collaborations with researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge, working together on multi-omic research to better understand the development of chronic diseases.
Following the science to identify the best therapeutic targets
Genomics is a powerful tool for uncovering disease-relevant genetic variations, often revealing potential novel targets for innovative therapies. But while it excels at identifying "where" to look, it doesn’t always explain the "why" or "how". Multi-omics adds layers of molecular context, showing how these genetic variations influence cellular processes or alter signalling pathways that could be relevant to disease.
For example, recent findings from Nature Communications from our Centre for Genomics Research leveraged data from AstraZeneca clinical trials and the UK Biobank to uncover the connections between genetic variants and the levels of over 600 circulating proteins in people with type 2 diabetes. These insights revealed novel pathways that lead to development of type 2 diabetes or a comorbidity, and discover molecular mechanisms where these processes intersect.
By integrating multi-omic data onto existing genomic data and clinical data, we can uncover aberrant cellular signalling or altered protein interactions, providing critical insights into the biology behind the target. This understanding helps translate genetic discoveries into mechanistic understanding, particularly important in complex and interconnected diseases like diabetes.
Shifting the paradigm in disease detection and progression
Many chronic diseases remain hidden until symptoms have progressed to a critical stage, making treatment more difficult and less effective. Multi-omics is changing this by delivering a dynamic understanding of disease progression. By examining molecular shifts across various biological layers, researchers can uncover biomarkers—such as proteins or metabolites—that indicate how a disease changes over time. These biomarkers are essential, not only for tracking disease but also for refining treatments in real time, enabling personalised care that is adapted to each patient’s molecular profile.
When paired with advanced technologies such as our recently unveiled AI research platform, MILTON, multi-omics becomes an even more powerful approach, particularly for the early detection of disease and the future of preventative healthcare. MILTON integrates genomic, proteomic, and clinical data to predict disease onset, potentially even before symptoms appear.
By combining the power of multi-omics and AI, we can envision a future where healthcare becomes proactive rather than reactive—detecting diseases in their earliest stages with the goal of significantly improving long-term health outcomes.
Matching the ‘right medicine’ to the ‘right patient’
Another area where multi-omics is accelerating the future of healthcare is in precision medicine—matching the right medicines to the right patients. Central to this approach is patient stratification, where molecular signatures are used to group individuals based on their molecular drivers of common chronic disease or likelihood of responding to specific treatments.
Multi-omic-informed precision medicine strategies have enormous potential to enable streamlined, focussed and efficient clinical trials. But even more than that, this approach will give patients the opportunity to receive medicines aligned to their unique biological makeup, with the aim to enhance response and improve health outcomes.
Population-level multi-omics is already transforming our understanding of human biology and represents an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate the future of healthcare. In addition to large scale human studies, scientists across R&D are combining multi-omics with advanced molecular imaging to capture high-resolution multi-omic data—pixel by pixel—across cells and tissues. This approach creates a detailed map of disease biology, unlocking deeper insights into drug distribution, metabolism, and treatment responses. By integrating these findings, we can better assess the safety and efficacy of our molecules; this is the power of ‘safety-omics’ in action.
By unravelling the interconnected networks that drive health and disease, multi-omics moves us closer to a future where medicine is predictive, personalised, and preventative. At AstraZeneca, the integration of multi-omics with our leading genomics research marks the next chapter in biomedical science. Fuelled by data, technology and innovation, we are harnessing the power of what science can do.
