 |
June 2005
|
|
|
Upcoming Events
Members of PMC will be participating in these upcoming conferences:
Targeted Therapeutics Summit
June 13-14, 2005
Organized by: Cambridge Healthtech Institute
Washington Marriott
Washington, DC
Personalized Medicine
June 27-28, 2005
Accelerating Dx/Rx Product Development
Organized by: The Center for Business Intelligence
Philadelphia, PA
Public Attitudes Toward Genetics
September 7, 2005
Details on this PMC-hosted seminar will be available soon. Please mark your calendar.
|
|
|
|
|
PMC Welcomes New Members:
Burrill & Company
Chiron Corporation
Gentris Corporation
Kimball Genetics
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics
(learn more about our members)
|
|
| |
Dear PMC Members,
Recent events have seen personalized medicine capture the attention of scientists, industry leaders, and policy makers at the highest level. Momentum is building behind a national system of electronic medical records; large scale studies are gauging public attitudes toward genetic testing; old drugs like warfarin are finding new life with the prospect of genetically guided dosing; and signature sets of genes may help doctors and patients decide on the best course of therapy (read our news briefs on these subjects).
These are also exciting times for the Personalized Medicine Coalition. Our membership has more than doubled since the start of the year as new members join our mission to advance the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine concepts and products for the ultimate benefit of patients.
|
|
| |
The June 13th cover story of BusinessWeek, “Biotech, Finally,” not only hails the progress being made in the field of personalized medicine, but also quotes one of our co-founders, Genomic Health, Inc.'s Patrick Terry, regarding the economic impact of genetic-based tests. According to Terry, personalized medicine is positioned to help avert a “huge public policy train wreck” by introducing efficiencies into the healthcare system.
On March 22nd, when the FDA issued its final guidance, Pharmacogenomic Data Submissions, PMC issued a statement applauding the guidelines as “paving the way to a new generation of diagnostics and therapeutics.” Several business and trade publications covering the news noted PMC’s support, including The New York Times.
|
|
| |
At a Members-only briefing in May, Janet Woodcock, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations at FDA, addressed the PMC, speaking about the FDA’s Critical Path Initiative and how the introduction of pharmacogenomics could lead to safer and more effective drugs in the future.
The PMC has been very active on Capitol Hill, and has developed positions on Genetic Non-Discrimination, Fair and Rational Medicare Payment for Molecular Diagnostic Tests, including genetic tests and services, and calling for “full funding” of NIH-sponsored research in both basic and translational research programs in genomics, proteomics, and other new understandings of cell biology (read more).
Several events were hosted by the PMC, including a networking luncheon with Dr. Francis Collins, National Human Genome Research Institute, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC at the beginning of the year, and a standing room only open house reception in Cambridge, Massachusetts featuring remarks by Raju Kucherlapati, Director of the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics; Eric Lander, Director of the Broad Institute and the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research; and Mark Levin, CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Both events were well-attended by PMC members as well as industry, government, and academic organizations interested in personalized medicine.
|
|
| |
The second half of 2005 promises to be a busy time for PMC. We are planning events, both for Members and the public at large, the next of which will be a seminar on public attitudes towards genetics scheduled for September 7th featuring new data surveys on the subject. We also have commissioned Michael Werner, previously Chief of Policy at BIO and now President of the Werner Group, to conduct a study and write a white paper on Payers and Personalized Medicine. The study will examine the impact that personalized medicine could have on system-wide healthcare expenditures and treatment outcomes. The Public Policy committee is presently drafting principles and a plan of engagement on reimbursement for personalized medicine products.
We hope that our members will play an active role in our initiatives and we urge you to get involved on one of our committees. Browse our website for more details, and check it often for updates on the PMC.
Sincerely,
Edward Abrahams
Executive Director
Personalized Medicine Coalition
|
|
|
