The IP & Science business of Thomson Reuters, US, has announced the publication of a new report titled "Spotlight on Personalized Medicine, a Pharma Matters". The report seeks to provide a comprehensive view of the potential effects of personalised medicine on drug research and development. Based on insights and information from Thomson Reuters Cortellis for Competitive Intelligence and a selection of data from CMR International, the report details the current challenges posed by the paradigm of stratified medicine as well as its clinical, economic and societal value.
According to Thomson Reuters representatives, an array of scientific and market factors have prompted the pharma industry to question the sustainability of the current R&D model, which targets large populations with chronic unmet medical needs. Despite the commercial success of these products, the one-size-fits-all focus has resulted in spiraling R&D costs, longer development timelines and narrow product portfolios. New options, specifically personalised medicine, appear to be an attractive and more sustainable solution. The new report offers a detailed look into the possible advantages and disadvantages of this potentially game-changing approach.
The report shows that a stratified paradigm could result in more efficient ways of conducting drug development, as well as address increased public awareness related to post-marketing withdrawals of popular drugs and debates concerning drug pricing and reimbursement. Further, the ability to better assess biological factors related to disease and therapy at the genetic level lends itself to the development of safer, more effective treatments for specific patient subgroups, the report says.
The slow pace of the industry to adopt a more stratified approach has been reinvigorated with high-profile drug launches and successes; however, numerous challenges still exist that could affect a large-scale integration of the personalised medicine paradigm into biopharmaceutical R&D, according to the report. Analysis from Thomson Reuters Cortellis for Competitive Intelligence suggests a gap in connecting the dots between genetic variation, disease association, patient segments with those variations, clinical trial design and patient recruitment in the clinic.
Thomson Reuters Cortellis is a life sciences platform for biopharmaceutical competitive intelligence, drug pipeline and drug research and development information.
