UK REPORT URGES PHARMACOGENETICS INVESTMENT

A new report by the UK's national academy of science, the Royal Society, claims that pharmacogenetics -- gene-based treatments tailored specifically for individual patients --"show promise" but are still 1520 years away from entering widespread use.

The report warns that the development of pharmacogenetics is being held back by a low awareness among healthcare professionals and a shortage of specialist researchers. To rectify this, it suggests that financial incentives should be introduced at both the national and European level to encourage drug companies to develop pharmacogenetic products.

Currently, stare-run healthcare provider the National Health Service (NHS) spends GBP11bn (US$19.44bn) a year on drugs. However, the report calls for the NHS to spend more studying how genes affect drug response in the patient population. This would reduce cases of adverse reaction and would help target drugs so they are given only to the patients that will benefit most from them -- the basis of pharmacogenetics.

It is widely believed that pharmacogenetics could be one of the key therapeutic areas in the future, especially for treating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB, although industry observers feel more research is needed into the cost-effectiveness of pursuing such an approach in developing countries.