How Biotech Is Revolutionizing Personalized Medicine

In 2005, my late father gave a lecture at Stanford University discussing personalized nutrition for […]

In 2005, my late father gave a lecture at Stanford University discussing personalized nutrition for cancer patients. He talked about nutrients that could be absorbed by both normal cells and cancer cells and would be customized to each patient’s unique status.

Since then, personalized medicine has rapidly advanced and is becoming an increasingly larger market with obvious benefits. Patients benefit from improved outcomes by receiving treatments that specifically target their conditions. Payers benefit from greater control over medication usage and less money wasted on treatments that don’t work.

Despite a few setbacks that have limited its full growth potential, personalized medicine is already being leveraged by a growing number of companies. Thanks to advancements in biotechnology, it may soon become an industrywide paradigm.

Leveraging Personalized Therapies

Personalized medicine encompasses a variety of treatments that use biotechnology — some are already being utilized, while others are being explored more thoroughly. For instance, stem cell research emphasizes using a patient’s own cells to design highly personalized treatment options. Likewise, genetic engineering technology involves editing a patient’s genetic composition to meet specific points of interest.

Some companies are also making it more feasible for others to explore and incorporate biotech into the creation of personalized medical care. For example, GE Ventures and Mayo Clinic have launched a joint venture — Vitruvian Networks, Inc. — to facilitate cloud-based access to cell and gene therapies. Pooling resources from both companies, Vitruvian Networks, Inc., is designed to accelerate the development of personalized medical therapies across the globe.

By 2015, the introduction of the Precision Medicine Initiative and the need for better long-term strategies paved the way for healthcare and pharmaceutical companies to embrace personalized medicine. Now, the focus has shifted to educating patients and the rest of the industry on why biotech and personalized therapies represent the future of medical and pharmaceutical care.

Opportunities and Challenges

With the growing reach of personalized medical therapy comes a slew of opportunities. Personalized medicines have fewer regulated guidelines, which can help speed up innovation and delivery for some companies.

However, growth can also be challenging for personalized medicine. As new treatments are introduced, the bar will be raised, and newly emerging therapies will face greater risks of elimination or restriction. Also, given the nature of personalized medicine, the market is smaller.

Therefore, there are few consistent studies — and there is little statistical data — to grow the market more rapidly, which the industry hopes to change by propelling education among patients and companies alike.

Never Too Early to Learn

As personalized medicine becomes a greater focus in healthcare, biotechnology continues to play a big role in its future. For example, pharmacogenomics joins the personalized medicine category by using a patient’s genetic profile to predict responses to certain medications.

In clinical trials, this helps researchers determine whether certain reactions are due to the drug being studied or are the result of the participant’s genetic makeup.

As current challenges to emerging biotechnology and personalized medicine fall away, new ones will rise in their place. But the industry recognizes that personalized medicine promises a brighter future in terms of patient outcomes, successful clinical trials, and more efficient use of medical resources.

Kevin Xu

Kevin Xu is the CEO of MEBO International, a California- and Beijing-based intellectual property management company specializing in applied health systems. He also leads Skingenix, which specializes in skin organ regeneration and the research and development of botanical drug products. Kevin is co-founder of the Human Heritage Project.

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