Predictive Medicine: Potential Benefits from the Integration of Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals

Abstract

The integration of diagnostics and pharmaceuticals is an area of significant added value for companies involved in the provision of healthcare products and services. The application of improved disease understanding to the needs of individual patients will have a profound effect on modern medical practice. The concept can be applied to the five key areas of treatment selection (pharmacogenetics) and medicine response testing, predisposition profiling, health status monitoring, diagnosis and monitoring for treatment response. Healthcare companies that embrace predictive medicine will be well positioned to lead the development of a new generation of patient-targeted medicines by combining cutting edge drug development with state-of-the-art diagnostic and pharmacogenetic products and services. This holistic approach to patient treatment will result in many potential patient benefits, including more accurate prediction and diagnosis of disease, more effective therapeutic intervention, greater cost effectiveness of medicines and improved patient quality of life.