Pharmacogenomics: the end of the blockbuster drugs?

by Sohail Sheikh of Frost & Sullivan

Pharmacogenomics was a buzzword of the late, late 20th century and is still being talked about halfway through 2001. Lexicologically speaking, it is a word that was not even mentioned prior to 1997, and is thought to have emerged in the run-up to last spring's momentous climax to the Human Genome Project. So what is it, where will it take us and what will be the fall-out of this "revolutionary new practice of medicine?"

In short, pharmacogenomics is the development of drugs based on the exploitation of genomics. By following the genetic basis of disease and drug efficacy, companies can improve the efficiency of clinical trials and almost totally eliminate the troublesome genetically-triggered side effects of a marketable drug. "So what?" you ask?