Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - April 2010 - (Page 10)

Progress in molecular diagnostics Molecular diagnostics is one of the fastest growing segments of the in vitro diagnostics market and, within this, personalised medicine is at the forefront. Personalised medicine is particularly interesting to the diagnostics industry as it represents a brand new sector for our products. In recent years, we have witnessed a significant demand both from pharmaceutical companies for partnerships and also from laboratories for products — both of which have been driven by the commercial and clinical benefits of adopting a personalised medicine approach. advances have been made most recently in linking the results of these molecular tests with patient treatment outcomes. Within personalised medicine, cancer is certainly leading the field with all new cancer drugs in development having an associated biomarker programme. There isn’t any other single field of medicine emerging that can compete with the developments that have been made in the field of oncology; rather developments have been made with many different types of drugs. One theme that does seem to be gathering momentum is the use of biomarkers to predict rare safety-related events, such as the HLAB5701 marker, which indicates which patients are at risk of a potentially fatal reaction to the HIV and AIDS treatment, abacavir. As our knowledge of disease processes continues to advance, drugs will increasingly target the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible. This means that drugs will become more effective and also more specific, leading to a continued demand for diagnostic tools to ensure they are appropriately targeted. Within the narrower field of cancer, in the future, I predict that it will be possible to use combinations of drugs and diagnostics to monitor how a tumour is developing and adjust therapy in response to this. PTE Breakthroughs Although real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology was a major advance in the field of molecular diagnosis, it has been used to perform diagnostic tests for a number of years now. Significant Based on a contribution by Dr Stephen Little, Vice President, Personalized Healthcare at DxS, a QIAGEN company. www.dxsdiagnostics.com 1 CONTENTS 9 THE HUMAN GENOME 2 INTRODUCTION 11 CANCER THERAPY UPDATE 5 MORE THAN SCIENCE NEEDED 14 MANUFACTURING CHALLENGES 7 FUTURE SNP MARKET 16 TOP TECHNOLOGIES http://www.dxsdiagnostics.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - April 2010

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - April 2010
Table of Contents
Why Personalised Medicine Business Models will Require Long-Term Strategies and Great Flexibility in Order to be Successful
Science Alone Will Not Lead to Better Medicines
The Current and Future Market for SNPs
The Hype, Hope and Reality of Pharmacogenetic Tests
Unraveling the Human Genome
Progress in Molecular Diagnostics
Personalising Cancer Therapy
T Cells for Patient-Specific Cancer Treatments
Future Research Strategies for Glucocorticoid Therapy
Overcoming Manufacturing and Financial Challenges of Personalised Cell Therapies
Public-Private Partnerships Prosper
Eight Latest Technologies Showcased

Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - April 2010