The science behind CohortLayer
CohortLayer is built on a well-established scientific finding: human genetic evidence is the strongest early predictor that a drug target will succeed, and that predictive power is growing as more of the genome is studied. Our method binds the public evidence the field relies on (ClinVar, the GWAS Catalog, and the peer-reviewed literature) continuously to population-scale human cohorts, and returns aggregate, replicated evidence about a specific target. We do not generate the underlying genetic research; we make it actionable against your target, replicate it across more than one cohort, and keep it current as interpretations change. Our validation approach is being developed with established cohort-genetics researchers, and peer-reviewed validation is in progress.
What scientific finding is CohortLayer based on?
Targets supported by human genetic evidence are substantially more likely to succeed in the clinic: roughly twice as likely to be approved, with the most recent analysis refining the advantage to 2.6-fold from Phase 1 to approval (Nelson et al., Nature Genetics 2015; Minikel et al., Nature 2024). And that advantage keeps growing as the field matures, because every new genetic finding adds evidence that was not there before (Minikel et al., Nature 2024).
What data sources does CohortLayer use?
CohortLayer builds on the open evidence sources the human-genetics field relies on: ClinVar (clinical variant interpretations), the GWAS Catalog (published genome–phenotype associations), and the peer-reviewed literature. It binds that evidence to large managed-access human cohorts for replication. The public sources tell us what has been found; the cohorts tell us whether it holds for a specific target and whether it replicates across populations.
How is CohortLayer's method validated?
Our approach is being developed and validated in collaboration with established cohort-genetics researchers, against the same public evidence sources and population-scale cohorts described above. Peer-reviewed validation is in progress.
Is CohortLayer a medical or diagnostic service?
No. CohortLayer is a research and analytics service that returns aggregate, population-level evidence to organizations: biotech, techbio, and research teams. It does not analyze or return any individual's medical or diagnostic information. The managed-access cohorts it works with cannot, by design and by governance, be used to produce individual-level or consumer results.
How does CohortLayer handle genetic data and privacy?
Under EU/GDPR-native principles, aggregate-only. Genetic data is among the most sensitive categories of personal data, so the design boundary is strict: individual records never leave the cohort's secure environment, nothing is re-identified or moved, and only aggregate statistics are returned. Those constraints are what the governance of these cohorts requires.
Sources
- Nelson et al., Nature Genetics 2015. The support of human genetic evidence for approved drug indications.
- Minikel et al., Nature 2024. Refining the impact of genetic evidence on clinical success.