Fred Hassan: Genomics Will Revive Pharma

Fred Hassan, former CEO of the former Schering-Plough, believes that genomics will breathe new life into the pharmaceutical industry. His cheerleading prediction for how the study of the human genome will invigorate the flagging drug business, personalize healthcare, and extend lives is available at the HuffPo.

It's not an original thought, but Hassan (like the rest of us) recognizes that we're probably on the cusp of finally realizing tailored or boutique-style medicine. One case in point is the apparent, relative benefit and safety of the anti-amyloid bapineuzumab (JNJ; Wyeth) in individuals with Alzheimer disease who don't carry the ApoE4 allele.

In a more tangible way, genomics is informing the development of vaccines and the control of infectious diseases. In a recent PLoS review article ("The Key Role of Genomics in Modern Vaccine and Drug Design for Emerging Infectious Diseases"), Novartis employees describe how knowledge of pathogen and host genomes can be used to identify and select vaccine targets in a process known as reverse vaccinology.

As proof of this concept, the authors describe how whole-genome sequencing led to the identification of vaccine-candidate antigens against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B. An 18-month analysis of the bacterial genome ultimately led to the identification of 570 genes that likely encoded surface-exposed or secreted proteins—more vaccine-candidate antigens than those discovered during 40 years of conventional analysis. Further antigen screening resulted in the development of a "multi-component" recombinant vaccine (Novartis's MenB vaccine), which is in phase 2/3 development.