Feds Pay Doctors $161M to Design Drugs Just for You

(Sept. 9) -- The use of genomic sequencing to create personalized medical prescriptions, a process that's already making rapid strides, got a financial boost this week.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will invest $161.3 million over five years in its Pharmacogenetics Research Network (PGRN). The decade-old collaborative effort, which includes dozens of institutions, is working to master the relationship between an individual's genome and the person's response to different medications and treatment options.

"Thanks to breakthroughs in genome-sequencing technologies and our growing understanding of genetic variation among individuals, there has never been a better time to propel the field of pharmacogenomics," Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, said in a press release.

And the NIH-sponsored research offers more than just the potential for personalized treatment. A more robust understanding of genetics would yield improved risk profiles for specific illnesses and conditions, as well as the ability to forecast risks for a couple's potential offspring.

Of course, it's all well and good to hype the prospect of new drug treatments custom-tailored to an individual's specific genes, but what are the real, concrete gains that have actually made their way to the doctor's office thanks to genomic science? Surge Desk has a few favorites:

Tailored Blood-Thinners
In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration capitalized on one pharmacogenetic finding and changed the labels on the blood-thinning drugs warfarin and carbamezepine. The reason? A genetic variation caused some patients to hemorrhage on the drugs, meaning that a reduced dose would protect them from that potentially fatal side effect.

"Today's approved labeling change is one step in our commitment to personalized medicine," FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said at the time. "By using modern science to get the right drug in the right dose for the right patient, FDA will further enhance the safety and effectiveness of the medicines Americans depend on."

Customized Children's Cancer Treatments
At St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, doctors have been performing genetic tests on young leukemia patients for several years. Experts compare the genes of new patients to a database of former ones, in an effort to determine how they'll respond to select medications.

"Till now, there's been a one-size-fits-all approach. In most cases, an average dose of a medication is ordered, and then, if the patient suffers side effects, the dosage is adjusted," Dr. Mary Relling of St. Jude's told the New York Times in 2006. "With gene testing, we can customize the prescription."

Better Bipolar Fixes
It's not quite a reality yet, but a breakthrough is looming in more effective, reliable treatment for bipolar disorder, which afflicts nearly 6 million Americans.

A team of scientists, led by the University of California, San Diego, received $6.5 million of the new NIH funding dollars for their work on personalized bipolar-disorder pharmaceuticals.

In every area of medicine, patients respond differently to medicines, and some not at all," Dr. John Kelsoe of UC San Diego said, referring specifically to lithium -- which can be extremely effective or completely futile in the case of bipolar treatment. "If we can identify key genetic markers, then patients can receive the appropriate treatment sooner and get better faster."