Devices & Diagnostics, Pharma, Policy

Barack Obama’s precision medicine plan a $215M publicity play – and that’s A-OK.

What’s the best thing about Obama’s new, $215 million precision medicine initiative? While a database […]

What’s the best thing about Obama’s new, $215 million precision medicine initiative? While a database of genomic and phenotypic data is great, it’s really all about buzz that could be transformative for biological research – and for business.

Just like the 2013 BRAIN Initiative worth $100 million (a scant sum, really, when it comes to medical research), this effort’s more about ponying up presidential publicity than doling out cash. But what’s wrong with that?

“It’s a gimmicky grab for budget money that’s scant on details – barely a sketch of an idea,” Matthew Herper wrote over at Forbes. “It’s also a smart move and should be worth every penny.”

Fact remains that neurological and mental health issues are an enormous burden on the country – similarly, cancer care is still a little too throw-darts-on-board-and-see-which-sticks-ish. There’s a general public misunderstanding about what an impact both of these issues have on our society – so why not educate the masses with a federal media play?

“Precision medicine is a complicated process – people don’t always understand it right away,” said Chuck Baum, CEO of San Diego-based precision cancer drug biotech Mirati Therapeutics. “I think Obama’s initiative could educate patients, as well as the general public, about how precision medicine is changing treatment options for patients.”

Notably, when referring to rapidly decreasing rate of gene sequencing costs, Obama said it’s now “less than $2,000,” instead of proclaiming – as so many in the biotech arena like to do – that we’ve arrived squarely at a $1,000 genome. However, he cited a study that every dollar spent on mapping human genome has already returned $140 to the economy, he said. There’s good business to be had in this effort, many say.

Here’s one example of how a federal aggregation of that 1-million-strong genomic database could help all the startups out there:

“We count on government and academia to really help us understand the basic biology of disease – they’re far better suited to unlock the mysteries of the human body than industry,” said Yumanity CEO Tony Coles. “But from there, biopharmaceutical companies and diagnostic assay makers can very specifically use those insights to target where to aim commercial products.”

While this is a good start, some hope that the government pushes this initiative a step further and funds new genome sequencing – much like the United Kingdom’s plan to dedicate £300 million ($450 million) to sequence 100,000 genomes by 2018.

“If the U.S. could also provide funding for sequencing for another million genomes, sure, that would be helpful in moving things forward,” Edico Genome CEO Pieter Van Rooyen said. “But that’d cost billions. This is a good start.”

But one of the biggest reasons the life sciences community is jazzed by Obama’s publicity play:

“It’s great validation for what we’ve been doing all these years,” Berg CEO Niven Narain said.

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