Exclusive Article by Isaac Christiansen at EMRIndustry.com
Advancements within the medical field typically focus on treating most of the population through standard medical treatments. However, healthcare designed to treat the individual is increasingly becoming more and more commonplace. With the help of new technology, medical practices, medical decisions, as well as medical products are more readily available to fit each patient’s personal needs. In light of this emerging trend, there are several innovative companies making major contributions in personalized medicine that is particularly noteworthy.
Roche
Roche dedicated its resources and development strategy toward the practice of this type of medicine nearly a decade before it gained the respect and popularity among practitioners and healthcare facilities as it does today. As the widely accepted leader of this medical concept, Roche is well-positioned in developing drugs formulated to match specific genetic profiles. A crucial step to treating a patient more effectively is to determine which key genetic biomarkers he or she has. This proactive approach is especially helpful when treating patients with certain types of cancers. With Roche’s massive investment in numerous clinical trials related to personalized healthcare underway, the company is expected to receive a clear cut answer by 2017 of whether or not their ROI was really worth the financial sacrifice.
Illumina
Genetic testing provides the link in detecting potential health problems that may potentially occur in a patient’s lifetime. Genome mapping can also be used as a helpful research tool to treat and prevent major illnesses. Although there are still many unknown factors pertaining to genetics and medical treatment, understanding someone’s genetic makeup could allow scientists to target and attack viruses and organisms or assist in the repair of cellular damage with little guesswork involved. Illumina supports genetic sequencing that can be done in a very short time and in a very cost-effective manner via improved techniques.
Exact Sciences Corporation
With the sole mission to eradicate colon cancer worldwide, the Exact Sciences Corporation is a 10-year-old molecular diagnostics company that supplies the only FDA-approved DNA colon cancer screening test, the Cologuard system. Exact Sciences is also slated to develop diagnostic tests for the entire GI tract, with a personalized pancreatic cancer test expected to be available to the market in the early part of 2018.
Merck Sorono and Illumina
Two pharmaceutical companies currently collaborating their efforts to create a universal tool for precision medicine are Illumina and Merck Serono. Their objective is to form a single platform test system for clinical trials of targeted cancer therapies. Moreover, Illumina is working with Merck Serono to develop tests that simultaneously detect and measure multiple variants to create an incentive for conducting clinical trials. The pharmaceutical companies’ collaboration to bring the universal cancer test to reality will include test development, global regulatory approvals, and global commercialization.
Summarizing a statement made by Illumina CMO, Richard Klausner, the concerted efforts made by both Illumina and Merck Serono is a positive step in the right direction for precision medicine becoming a healthcare standard in the near future. It is also an approach that supports former President Obama’s proposed $270 million initiative of precision medicine, which partially pushes the expansion of genetically-based clinical trials as a prime focus for developing better cancer treatments.
According to Merck Serono’s Head of Global Business, Susan Herbert, the teamwork effort put forth by both their company and Illumina in regard to next-generation sequencing will enable them to perform genome studies at an unprecedented pace which could lead to the development of several diagnostics.
Conclusion
The overall consensus is that custom chemical makers will only increase in the U.S. and Europe. However, the development and distribution of precision drugs is a very complex process. This may explain why drug developers allot a significant portion of their research funds exclusively to niche areas. As a result, the precision medicine market is now branching off to include smaller numbers of patients who have specific diseases, such as ovarian or colon cancer, for example.
Tailoring medicine to meet the needs of an individual when performing preventative, diagnostic, treatment and follow-up care continues to change how the medical field helps their patients. Moreover, the FDA is collaborating with drug manufacturers, scientists, healthcare professionals, and others, to better understand how customized medicine should work.
