Plattform Life Sciences 2/2017 - Biology is complex

Discussing the Future of Personalized Medicine with Biotech Experts

Märkte & Technologien Biology is complex Discussing the Future of Personalized Medicine with Biotech Experts Personalized medicine took the world aback with the promise of tailoring medical treatments to the specifi c needs of each patient’s genetic background. The core of this practice is the stratifi cation of patients into subpopulations in order to determine which will respond to a particular treatment. But despite the huge expectations, it doesn’t seem to have fully materialized yet. By Clara Rodriguez Fernández m o c . a i l i o t o F – s n e v N y e g r e S © : n o i t a r t s u l l I is tackling it by building a platform where patients can share their information with those that have a similar profi le in another for regular follow-ups and non-invasive diagnostic of cancer directly from a blood sample. He highlights that the formula to collecting quality data lies in setting up a system that monitors what effect the personalized treatment is having on each specifi c patient and the key biomarkers. “That is for me the term of personalized medicine, that you don’t just do one test at one time,” but collect evidence of the patient’s progress over time instead. Sharing personal data is still under strict regulations Although we are getting better at collect- ing data, making sense of it is still a huge challenge. One of the limitations is the availability of shared data. UK-based Repositive is making a huge progress in giving free access to worldwide databases in a single platform. Meanwhile, OncoDNA ABOUT THE AUTHOR Clara Rodríguez Fernández has studied Biotechnology in Spain and Bioengineering at Imperial College London. She has done a few research internships there and also at The University of Queensland, in Australia. Now she‘s a journalist for Labiotech.eu. T he advancement of technology, more specifi cally next-generation and whole-genome sequencing, might be the fi rst step to overcome the current challenges the fi eld is facing. S equencing the fi rst human genome took 13 years and cost 2.7 billion USD. Today, a few hours and around 1,000 USD suffi ce. And soon, companies like Illumina will do it for under 100 USD. But some argue genome sequencing might not be enough. “Biology is com- plex and a successful test cannot only rely on genes,“ says Jean-Pol Detiffe, CEO of the French OncoDNA. His compa- ny uses next-generation sequencing to match patients with a personalized can- cer treatment. “We look at RNA, we look at methylation, we look at the protein in the context of its pathway”, he explains. Detiffe also sees a big trend in liquid biopsy, a technique that allows rapid 18 ls 02-2017 „Personalisierte Medizin“

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