Personalized MedicineVol. 7, No. 2 News & ViewsFree AccessLatest News & Updates from the Personalized Medicine CoalitionEdward AbrahamsEdward Abrahams1225 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20005, USA. Search for more papers by this authorEmail the corresponding author at eabrahams@personalizedmedicinecoalition.orgPublished Online:16 Mar 2010https://doi.org/10.2217/pme.10.10AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail As this letter goes to press 1 week after a special election in Massachusetts (USA) rearranged the American political landscape, no one can predict what healthcare in the USA will look like in the future. Nevertheless, we do know that personalized medicine will be a part of it. Although not as contentious as extending coverage or deciding how to pay for adding millions of new citizens to the insurance rolls, personalized medicine played a part of the not yet concluded debate. Even if not enacted into law, the emergence of the concept in legislative language for the first time allowed us to establish a beachhead for the future consideration of issues surrounding the development and adoption of personalized medicine.For example, before the House of Representatives voted on the 2009 healthcare reform package, Representative Kurt Schrader, D-Ore, introduced an amendment to ensure that the comparative effectiveness research (CER) provisions in the bill designed to maximize efficiency were, as he wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter, “in step with the latest advances in genetics and molecular medicine”. To make his case, he quoted the National Insitute of Health Director Francis Collins, who had noted that the principles of individual variation and CER were on a “collision course” unless they were properly teamed.In his letter to 434 Members of Congress, Representative Schrader noted that the Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC) supported his amendment, adding that the stakes were nothing less than the future of science and medical progress.His reference to the PMC signaled that our education and advocacy efforts on behalf of good science and good medicine are having an impact. We have come a long way since fewer than 20 institutions launched the PMC at the end of 2004.Although Representative Schrader, recognizing that the Senate’s bill incorporated his concern that we do not lock medicine into a ‘one-size-fits-all’ paradigm, later withdrew his amendment to help ensure the final passage of the measure, he did get the House Leadership’s attention. They both recognized the importance of supporting the principles of personalized medicine.When 5 years ago, we launched the PMC to create a friendlier environment for the development and adoption of personalized medicine, few Members of Congress had an inkling of what personalized medicine was and half of those got it wrong. Although many still fear that personalized medicine could raise the cost of healthcare, not lower it (as we contend); today, there is a widespread understanding of personalized medicine: what it is, why it is important and how it can be advanced with government help, thanks, in large part, to our work.If our work on CER was the most dramatic example of PMC’s success in 2009, there were others as well.Chief among these was our continued growth as an organization, the necessary condition to support our educational and advocacy efforts.I am pleased to report that the Coalition increased in size by 14% last year, from 143 members to 163 in a year that was financially challenging for many institutions, owing to the worst recession since the 1930s. A total of 49 new members joined the PMC in 2009, though 29 did not renew. Our members represent all the healthcare sectors with an interest in advancing personalized medicine.Looking ahead, the PMC is working to: ▪ Re-introduce the Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act;▪ Implement CER at the agency level;▪ Address regulatory issues at the US FDA, notably on companion diagnostics;▪ Develop a strategy to advance value-based reimbursement for diagnostics;▪ Promote the advancement of personalized medicine in health information technology;▪ Encourage physician education regarding developments in personalized medicine, including areas outside of oncology, such as cardiology and diabetes.To kick off the year, the PMC’s guest speaker at its Sixth Annual State of Personalized Medicine Luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, USA will be FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, MD. Her talk, scheduled for 25 February at noon, is entitled, “Bringing Home the Genome: The FDA’s Role in Realizing Personalized Medicine”.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 7, No. 2 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics History Published online 16 March 2010 Published in print March 2010 Information© Future Medicine LtdPDF download