Pharmacogenomics: Targeted therapies

Pharmacogenomics seeks to understand the genetic factors contributing to individual response to pharmacotherapy, and is currently one of the most active research areas in complex human disease genetic research.

The publication of the first draft of the sequence of the human genome has opened a new era of understanding into the effect of variations in the human genome on individual risk of disease and response to therapeutic treatment. Localization of every human gene and its regulatory elements will make a vast new array of targets for diagnosis and therapy available. This will include metabolic gene families, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in target receptors and drug-metabolizing enzymes for new drugs. It will also be increasingly feasible to predict important pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters prior to empirical testing and to also address these more efficiently during clinical trials, improving both the efficiency and safety of drug discovery. This, together with new technical advances in high-throughput drug metabolism, pharmacokinetic screening, combinatorial chemistry, gene expression technology, proteomics, bioinformatics, and genomics, promises to accelerate the discovery process in pharmacogenomics.

Historically, drugs have been discovered on a trial and error basis. Targeting reactions at the molecular level allows drugs to be efficiently modeled in order to produce the desired result in the body. For this first time, this will bring predictability to the drug development process. Pharmacogenomics also makes it possible to develop tailored treatments for individuals, or groups of individuals with similar genetic characteristics. Genomics-based drug development also promises to significantly accelerate drug development cycles and reduce development costs, increasing the overall efficiency of the health care market.

Over 100 drugs, targeting approximately 500 genes, have already been developed and approved in the United States or other countries as a result of pharmacogenetic research. Many hundreds more drugs, vaccines and diagnostic products are in advanced human clinical trials. Over 10,000 therapeutically significant genetic targets in humans are possible in the near future. These new targets will allow the development of new diagnostics, treatments and cures for disease and disease susceptibility and present an enormous commercial opportunity.

Triaj offers a broad range of services related to pharmacogenomics, ranging from general advisory and project review to large scale applied consulting projects. Triaj's biotechnology professionals are recognized international leaders in their fields, and include experts in genetics, genomics, proteomics, molecular biology, genetic statistics, clinical epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, biostatistics, bioinfomatics, diagnostics, therapeutics, and gene mapping. Triaj's professional staff has an unparalleled wealth of expertise in all aspects of pharmacogenomics, including study design, gene expression and microarray analysis, generation of molecular data, and biostatistical analysis.

Profit from Triaj's experience.

Triaj's professional staff collectively has over two hundred published articles in peer reviewed scientific journals of direct relevance to pharmacogenomics. More generally, Triaj consultants have over 4,000 published articles in the peer-reviewed scientific literature in the related fields of clinical epidemiology, clinical genetics, genetic epidemiology, statistical methodology, bioinformatics, functional genomics and gene discovery. Our consultants also have extensive experience in the analysis of clinical trials and in consulting to industry in this area.

---

Back to Expertise