Pharmaceutical Technology Europe - April 2010 - (Page 5)

Science alone will not lead to better medicines Q: What is the Personalised Medicine Coalition and how does it hope to advance personalised medicine? Personalised Medicine Coalition (PMC) is an education and advocacy organisation publicly launched at the end of 2004 on the assumption that science alone was not going to lead to better medicines for patients. The Coalition educates decision makers about the power and potential of personalised medicine, and seeks to create a friendlier landscape for its advancement. Q: What barriers are currently hindering progress in the field of personalised medicine and what can be done to overcome them? Currently, regulatory, reimbursement and education systems are not aligned to facilitate the development and clinical adoption of personalised medicine. The markets get mixed signals, physicians are not sufficiently aware of what the new developments are, and payers are seeking evidence for diagnostic technologies that they don’t understand or see the value of without more information. These issues need to be addressed, and that’s what the PMC is designed to do. Q: In which area of personalised medicine is innovation needed the most? The science of personalised medicine is still in early stages and we need a better understanding of how human Pharmaceutical Technology Europe interviews Edward Abrahams PhD, Executive Director of the Personalised Medicine Coalition. biology works; how individuals are different and how they respond differently to different treatments. Therefore, I would say the most important area for development is a better understanding of the science of individual variation. In short, how people are different. Hopefully, reimbursement, regulatory and education systems will send the right signals so that the right investments will be made and, in turn, we will discover the principles of individual difference. That will position physicians to better treat disease, even before it happens. We’re not there yet, but we have more tools than we ever had before, in part because of the declining cost of genetic sequencing. In a short time the cost of sequencing a human genome has fallen from $3 million to less than $50000 today, and we’re en route to a $1000 price tag within a couple of years. That tool alone could transform the science that underlies personalised medicine. Q: What advice would you give to a company considering investing in personalised medicines but is concerned about their return on investment? To quote the hockey player Wayne Gretzky, “...you skate to where the puck’s going, not to where it is.” 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

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