COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK)

MRC are investing £6m through the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium (COG-UK), which has received a total of £20.79m in partnership with DHSC and Wellcome, to a large scale and rapid SARS-CoV-2 sequencing capacity and share this knowledge with hospitals and the NHS. Other contributions are from DHSC and Wellcome via Wellcome Sanger. The current COVID-19 pandemic represents a major threat to health in the UK and globally. SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing capacity in UK NHS clinical microbiology network and within Public Health England (PHE) is of limited daily capacity. However, the UK has world leading expertise in genomics within PHE, at multiple regional University hubs, and within large centres such as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The proposed COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) - Consortium, will deliver a large scale and rapid SARS-CoV-2 sequencing capacity to local NHS centres and the UK government at pace. The primary achievement of this consortium will be the generation of actionable data which when combined with epidemiological and clinical information has the potential to inform interventions and policy decisions during the current UK COVID-19 epidemic. This sequencing capacity will enable real time evaluation of novel treatments and non-pharmacological interventions on SARS-CoV-2 populations and spread, and provide information on introductions versus community transmission and outbreaks. It will also evaluate signals of changing transmissibility and virulence. In the longer term, the full integration of UK population level SARS-CoV-2 genomics data, with matching NHS electronic health records, patient outcomes, human genomics and metagenomics data has the potential to generate insights into susceptibility to COVID-19 disease. Finally, the substantial new nationwide capacity in sequencing infrastructure, informatics and personnel that will be built by COG-UK will remain at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as significant asset for the NHS, UKRI and UK Government.