UK government to create surveillance system for future pandemics

The UK government has announced plans to create a real-time surveillance system to monitor the threat of future pandemics and prevent disease.

A partnership between the government, Genomics England, UK Biobank, NHS England, and Oxford Nanopore will help to create an early warning system for potential biological threats.

Oxford Nanopore uses long read sequencing technology to analyse genes and pathogens to rapidly diagnose a range of cancers, along with rare and infectious diseases.

Wes Streeting, health secretary, said: “Our NHS was already on its knees when the pandemic struck, and it was hit harder than any other comparable healthcare system.

“We cannot let history repeat itself. That’s why this historic partnership with Oxford Nanopore will ensure our world-leading scientists have the latest information on emerging threats at their fingertips.

“As we embrace the technological revolution, our 10 year health plan will shift the NHS away from analogue to digital, saving countless more lives.”

Oxford Nanopore’s technology uses samples from patients with severe respiratory infections and rapid genetic testing to match them with the right treatments within six hours.

Gordon Sanghera, chief executive at Oxford Nanopore, said: “By working alongside our partners on shared goals of improved patient outcomes – whether in cancer, genetic disease or infectious disease – and pandemic preparedness, we believe we can deploy our unique DNA sequencing technology in ways that are most impactful for the people of the UK.”

The technology will be used in the expansion of NHS England’s Respiratory Metagenomics programme, being led by Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT).

An application, developed in partnership with the NHS, will allow potential outbreaks of bacterial or viral diseases to be monitored alongside antimicrobial resistance across the country.

Following a pilot at St Thomas’ Hospital, the technology will now be rolled out between 10 and 30 NHS sites.

Professor Ian Abbs, chief executive at GSTT, said: “We’ve been working on the respiratory metagenomics programme for over four years and have clearly seen the benefit to our patients.

“It’s a momentous day now that we can ensure other hospitals, and more patients, can also benefit from faster and more accurate treatment for severe respiratory conditions thanks to new genomic technology.”

Genomics England will work with Oxford Nanopore to further insights from the data they hold, including on cancer and rare diseases, to enable future breakthroughs in identifying genomic mutations that may be treatable and preventing these conditions.

As part of the expansion to the metagenomics programme, the data gathered using Oxford Nanopore’s technology will be provided to the UK Health and Security Agency, allowing quicker detection and action on emerging infectious diseases to be taken.

UK Biobank will also continue to work with Oxford Nanopore and the government to improve the insights from their data and translate these into impact for NHS patients.

This partnership follows the budget announcement on 30 October 2024, in which the government announced investment of £40m over five years in a Proof of Concept Fund for university spinouts.