Secure genomic data company BC Platforms said on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Vanderbilt University Medical Center's (VUMC) BioVU to support researchers in efficient drug and diagnostics discovery and development, while still protecting the integrity of the biobank and the data.

The agreement has been initiated between BC Platforms' global biobank platform, BCRQUEST.com, and Nashville Biosciences, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and VUMC's BioVU, one of the world's most comprehensive clinico-genomic research database.

BioVU provides unparalleled clinical insights and resources to biomedical researchers in both academic and industry settings through a de-identified clinico-genomic research database containing robust, longitudinal clinical data and approximately 250,000 bio-banked DNA samples.

BC Platforms provides its BCRQUEST.com platform, a streamlined solution for secure data sharing, analytics and governance, enabling greater collaboration for scientific innovation and precision medicine. It has developed unique technology capable of providing researchers with tools to browse and analyze summary level information from data providers, including biobanks, who have subscribed to the service.

As part of the new agreement,BioVU will link summary data to BC Platforms' bioanalytics platform, allowing researchers to securely perform queries to rapidly estimate counts for a potential study cohort and determine the feasibility of the study without wasting time or effort.

In conjunction, the researchers will work with Nashville Biosciences and other biobanks participating in BCRQUEST.com to conduct their desired study.