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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: smh who wrote (2891)	2/18/2001 2:09:23 PM
From: smh	Respond to of 52153

Sorry if previously posted, but this seems to hit all the points discussed concerning pharmacogenomics a while back. technologyreview.com <While developing a more effective Alzheimer's drug could take a decade, Roses expects in the next two to five years to submit for FDA approval a pharmacogenetic test for the safety of Glaxo's anti-HIV drug Ziagen. Around five percent of AIDS patients have a predisposition to develop dangerous and potentially fatal hypersensitivity reactions to this medication, a rate found with other AIDS drugs as well. If the FDA approves the test, then the right five percent of the population will know not to take Ziagen. That test, Roses says, will be the "proof of principle" that the genetic revolution is both smart business and good for people. He contends it will "have a revolutionary effect on the pharmaceutical industry," dramatically changing the way the industry operates. "It will be inescapable. You cannot deny evidence-based safety testing to people taking a drug." Many of Roses' peers worry that pharmacogenomics may fragment their markets in ways that could be lethal to the corporate bottom line. Roses believes otherwise, arguing that the new Ziagen test will drive far more people to Glaxo's drug. Armed with pharmacogenetic tests for safety, he says, Glaxo's products will have "...a huge competitive advantage....Would you pay more for a pill that is a thousand times safer?" And once that first test for Ziagen demonstrates its market, "the dominoes will start to fall," he says. "Consumers will want it. We're a regulated industry. Regulators will demand it.">