Pharmacogenomics: The Future Of Medicines

Despite the advances in modern medicines, physicians and pharmaceutical companies alike fail to determine a patient's response to treatment

. Drugs that are safe and effective to some may be useless or dangerous to others. There are cases in which the inefficacy of medicines or their adverse effects can be linked to medication errors and other factors.

Today, scientists know that some variations in drug response are genetic. While such variations are not readily appreciated, scientists are using such information in formulating medicines. Pharmacogenomics is the scientific investigation of how the variations in genes among individuals affect their response to medicines. Together with the traditional knowledge in biochemisty in producing drugs, this revolutionary study uses the genetic evaluation to determine hypothetical targets for medicines or to determine large-scales variations in the gene expression in response to chemical compounds.

With the emergence of pharmacogenomics, the pharmaceutical companies are hopeful to have improved rates in success in some therapeutic classes and develop tailor-formulated treatment for individuals. Doctors will be able to analyze the genetic makeup of an individual and prescribe medicines which will have the best results for him.

Among the objectives of pharmacogenetics, its other term, is the mitigation in adverse drug reactions. According to the study conducted, there are more than 2 million patients hospitalized and more than 100,000 deaths occurred each year due to serious adverse drug reactions in the United States alone. If this new scientific investigation will be developed further and identify genetic bases for such adverse reactions, millions of lives will be saved.

Institutions that support the study believe that it will revolutionize the way scientists conduct the clinical trials. More information will be known regarding the compounds being tested in relation to the genetic constitution of the participants. The pharmaceutical companies will be able to determine the subjects that should be included on the clinical trial based on how their genes react positively to a given medicine, which will allow the researchers to save time and resources. Moreover, it will minimize the costs of clinical development while maximizing the success rates.

From the perspective of marketing, the pharmaceutical companies will be able to provide accurate information on how different patients could respond to their medicines, and thus enhance the physician's confidence in such medicines.

Another impact of this study is to use its principles and knowledge on the drugs that were withdrawn or discontinued because of safety concerns, and be reintroduced to the market by matching them to a niche patient within a small population. In 1990, there had been 38 drugs withdrawn from markets because of safety issues.

At present, pharmacogenetics cannot improve the effectiveness of a given medicine, however, it can help select patients who are likely to respond well. In the future, pharmacogenomics will provide insights on drug behavior and sensitivity, which will be helpful in enhancing the efficacy of drug developments and drug utilization. Further, it will help achieve the goals of optimal drug treatment.

The genetic profile of a patient will be utilized to choose the most appropriate medication for the treatment or prevention of a certain disease to which she or he is predisposed by genetic. Soon, disease prevention will precede over disease treatment.

by: Charles Godbout

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