After the first sequencing of a human genome in 2003, officials from the U.S. National Institutes of Health introduced personalized medicine as a “newly created discipline” that promised to “make a profound difference to the health and well-being of all the people of this world.”
For two decades, researchers and industry leaders in health and medicine have vigorously pursued this vision, driving more than 100,000 molecular tests and 300 personalized medicines to the market. Straining against complex bureaucracies in business and government, many policymakers and clinicians have worked diligently to translate rapidly emerging scientific triumphs over certain cancers, rare genetic diseases, and common and infectious conditions into improved care for patients and their families.
But even in the areas of medicine where personalized medicine can make the biggest difference, many physicians are still basing most of their treatment decisions on outdated one-size-fits-all assumptions. As a result, some patients with serious and rapidly progressing diseases will never receive targeted medicines that could have helped them.
How can we accelerate investment in research and development to drive safer, more effective, and more innovative diagnostics and therapies to the market? And, equally important, how can we put in place an improved paradigm that brings the advantages of personalized medicine to every patient who can benefit from it?
PMC’s 17th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference is designed to help answer these questions. Titled “Personalized Medicine’s 20th Anniversary: From Promise to Practice,” this year’s conference will take place at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, CA, on November 30 and December 1.
We hope you will agree to join us in Dana Point to share your views on the issues facing the field. For thousands of patients and families who stand to benefit from personalized medicine, the stakes could not be higher.
If your institution may wish to sponsor the conference, please contact PMC Vice President of Membership and Development Kayla Smith at ksmith@personalizedmedicinecoalition.org.
