Personalized medicine: The emerging pharmacogenomics revolution

Each revolutionary change in human medicine, from antibiotics to painkillers to vaccines, has moved the practice of healthcare toward improved patient treatment. Pharmacogenomics, the next fundamental development in this area, promises to usher in an era of individualized patient care or personalized medicine. Pharmacogenomics uses markers in individuals' genetic code to pinpoint the underlying causes of disease.The science is enabling researchers to better identify drug targets and the mechanisms of action of investigational new drug candidates. Genomics-related technology facilitates the elimination of unfavorable products at earlier stages of development than is currently possible. It also could guide companies in designing clinical trials that would more definitively prove drug efficacy, in turn decreasing the time, costs, and risks of drug development. In the clinical setting, pharmacogenomics will help physicians better define long-term health risks patients face, more precisely diagnose the stage of patients' diseases, and more accurately predict their responsiveness to specific drugs or the likelihood for adverse events.