CONTACT
Gwen Gordon
Phone: (202) 589-1770
ggordon@personalizedmedicinecoalition.org

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (November 16, 2011) – The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) released today the 3^rd edition of its landmark report, The Case for Personalized Medicine.  The report documents the growth of commercially available personalized medicine products from 13 in 2006 to 72 today, and examines opportunities for the continued development and adoption of personalized medicine as the cost of genetic sequencing declines, the pharmaceutical industry increases its commitment to personalized approaches to drug development and the public policy landscape evolves.

“The Case for Personalized Medicine documents personalized medicine’s remarkable progress, evidenced by improved patient outcomes, shifting research models and increased industry investment. Yet it underscores the necessary steps required to align regulatory and reimbursement systems, thereby removing barriers that will increase personalized medicine innovation and speed its adoption,” said Edward Abrahams, Ph.D., President of the Personalized Medicine Coalition.  

Highlights from the report include:

• A compendium listing the 72 commercially available prominent personalized medicine products, grouped by indication, highlights the increasing diversity of personalized medicine drugs and diagnostic tests for conditions including arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, organ transplants and psychiatric disorders;
• Real-world examples that demonstrate how personalized medicine is shifting the focus in health care from reaction to prevention, reducing trial-and-error prescribing, making drugs safer, improving health outcomes, and reducing costs to the health care system;
• A discussion of the numerous policies which impact personalized medicine, highlighting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s increasing commitment to personalized medicine;
• An examination of the technologies that will continue to enable personalized medicine, including the roles of health information technology and gene sequencing in integrating clinical data to find new links between genetic variation, disease, and treatment response; and
• Many illustrations of collaborative research designed to expand available evidence that personalized medicine can improve patient outcomes while lowering systemic costs, including how the government, academia, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are working together to use personalized medicine to reduce adverse events.

“Personalized medicine has seen a steady growth and increasing commercial success,” said Jeffrey Cossman, Chairman of PMC’s Clinical Science Committee, which oversaw the development of this edition of the report.  “This new edition of The Case for Personalized Medicine advances the dialog to underscore what stakeholders must do to ensure that patients continue to benefit from breakthroughs in science.”

The Case for Personalized Medicineis written for a nonscientific audience and designed to inform policymakers, researchers, and business leaders across the health care and life science industries about personalized medicine’s ability to improve patient outcomes.  By matching treatments to patients, personalized medicine has the potential to make the health care system more efficient. 

“The case for personalized medicine is not closed,” said Brian Munroe, Chairman of PMC’s Public Policy Committee.  “This document illustrates the regulatory, reimbursement, and educational challenges that still need to be overcome to complete the transition from one-size-fits-all medicine to personalized medicine,” he said.

Released at a symposium on the Progress and Challenges in Personalized Medicine at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, The Case for Personalized Medicine is available for free download on the Personalized Medicine Coalition’s website, www.PersonalizedMedicineCoalition.org.

About the Personalized Medicine Coalition
The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), representing scientists, patients, providers and payers, promotes the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine concepts, services and products to benefit patients and the health system.  For more information on the Personalized Medicine Coalition, please visit www.PersonalizedMedicineCoalition.org.