The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently held a roundtable discussion on the status of genome-based drug development. In its summary of the meeting, the IOM stated, “The number of new drug approvals has remained steady for the last 50 years while spending on health-related research and development has tripled since 1990. This trajectory is not economically sustainable for the businesses involved, and, in response, many companies are turning toward collaborative models of drug development. Introducing greater efficiency and knowledge into these new models and aligning incentives among participants may help to increase efficiency and lower costs, while producing more effective drugs in the process. Genomic information has significantly increased our understanding of disease and...has resulted in the recent successful development of a number of new targeted therapeutics. However, there remains skepticism over how useful genomic information will be to the larger drug development process, requiring examination of the impact of and challenges for incorporating genome-based strategies.” Institute of Medicine; September 5, 2012
