Personalised (or precision) medicine is already a reality for some cancer patients, and is moving closer for those suffering other major diseases. The leap made by researchers in understanding how our genes affect our health promises new and better drugs. However, the developments in genomics, biomarkers, diagnostics and imaging technology are disrupting conventional healthcare models and pose complex challenges for the regulatory bodies and healthcare payers.
According to Research and Markets’ report on the US Companion Diagnostics Market,1 there were at least 387 targeted medicines either in the pipeline or currently marketed for oncology in 2013. Technavio’s analysts, meanwhile, forecast that the global companion diagnostics market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.59% over the period 2013–2018.2 Another report – Biomarkers: Technologies and Global Markets3 – predicts that the global biomarkers market will grow from US$29.3bn in 2013 to $53.6bn in 2018, at a CAGR of 12.8%.
While the figures sound promising, the reality is less clear cut and the difficulty for Big Pharma is knowing where, in this fast changing arena, to invest and maximise its efforts to recoup the greatest value. Furthermore, the world of targeted medicine that is emerging will produce a future healthcare landscape that is very different from that of today.
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