Personalized Medicine: Challenging Pharmaceutical and Diagnostic Company Business Models

Despite the dramatic growth in the number and power of molecular diagnostic technologies, the increasing clinical and economic value of the tests derived from them, and the therapeutic power of the drugs whose use can and should be guided by those tests, the reimbursement system for diagnostic tests has not evolved to accommodate the development and adoption of such personalized medicine diagnostics. The reimbursement system for advanced personalized medicine diagnostics - including the way tests are coded and the evidence currently needed to obtain coverage - does not recognize the clinical utility or economic value of these tests, or the realities of the niche markets they serve.  As a result, patient access to these tests is obstructed, and innovation in personalized medicine is stifled. Companies commercializing molecular diagnostics must understand these shortcomings of the current reimbursement system, and be prepared to address them, to achieve market success.

Therefore, while personalized medicine offers the potential to change well-established practices for physicians and patients, the concept presents a direct challenge to the business models of two other health care stakeholders essential to the realization of personalized medicine- pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies. At the core of the challenge is a central question- how will a personalized medicine paradigm change these companies' innovation and commercialization approaches? This question can be aimed at nearly every aspect of these stakeholders' current strategies- how clinical trials are conducted, the depth and breadth of the clinical evidence developed, and, perhaps most importantly, how value is created and captured.

These and other issues will be discussed during the session, "Challenging Pharmaceutical and Diagnostic Company Business Models,"  as part of this year's CE BioForum (23-24th May, Brno, Czech Republic). "The continued development of companion diagnostics is allowing for major opportunities for creation of an interface between the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industry. This presentation will explore how diagnostic companies can find and deliver increased value demanded by the marketplace," said
Joseph V. Ferrara, President of Boston Healthcare and conference presenter.

This year, BioForum - Central European Forum of Biotechnology and Innovative BioEconomy, will be in its 11th annual edition. The event focuses on following issues: business models in personalised medicine, biosimilars and new biotech products, and clinical and preclinical research opportunities in Central Europe. The organizer of Bio-Forum is Bio-Tech Consulting from Lodz, Poland (www.biotechconsulting.pl). For more information on the conference visit, www.cebioforum.com. For information or to contact Boston Healthcare, visit www.bostonhealthcare.com.

11^th edition of BioForum 2012
Central European Business Forum of Biotechnology & Innovative BioEconomy
will hold on 23-24th May in Brno, Czech Republic.

More information in attachment & on BioForum 2012 website www.cebioforum.com