In March, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society prepared a draft report called “Realizing the Promise of Pharmacogenomics.” The report recommends that the National Institutes of Health make greater allocations to basic research into the biochemistry and genetics involved in drug metabolism, action and effectiveness. In addition, the report pushes for a guidance document from the FDA on codeveloping pharmacogenomics (PGx) drugs and diagnostics products. Another recommendation of the report is for HHS to provide the private sector with incentives—such as a faster FDA approval process and increased intellectual property protection—to develop PGx products for smaller markets. The report places a high value on data sharing, both between companies and among research, regulatory and medical record databases.

Source: US Department of Health and Human Services