The future is personalised
pharmafile | December 15, 2009 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | diagnostic, industry, nestle, personalised, pricewaterhousecoopers
A new report says the market for personalised medicine products is set to grow strongly over the next few years, bringing about major changes for healthcare providers, pharma and diagnostic companies and patients.
The report, from consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers and entitled The Science of Personalized Medicine: Translating the Promise into Practice, projects that the market for a more personalised approach to health and wellness will grow to as much as $452 billion by 2015.
It says the total growth for the sector would be 11%, but that the core pharmaceuticals and diagnostics segment would represent just a fraction of this total, currently estimated at $24bn expected to grow by 10% annually, reaching $42bn by 2015.
PwC’s definition of personalised medicine is far wider than the fields of pharma and diagnostics. Other sectors involved range from telemedicine to alternative medicine, consumer products, food and retail services.
The consultants say telemedicine, health information technology and disease management services offered by traditional health and technology companies are currently estimated to be worth $4-12bn and could grow tenfold to over $100bn by 2015 if telemedicine takes off.
Meanwhile the related nutrition and wellness market – including retail, complementary and alternative medicine offered by consumer products, food and beverage, leisure and retail companies – is estimated at $196bn and is projected to grow 7% annually to over $290bn by 2015.
The promise of personalised medicine has been predicated on advances in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics (the study of metabolites) completion of the human genome map and development of ‘targeted’ diagnostics and therapeutics. Genomic tests allow an individual’s susceptibility to disease to be assessed, and to predict how a given patient will respond to a particular drug.
This promises to eliminate unnecessary treatments, reduce the incidence of adverse reactions to drugs, increase the efficacy of treatments and, ultimately, improve health outcomes.
“Medical science and technological advancement have converged with the growing emphasis on health, wellness and prevention sweeping the country to push personalised medicine to a tipping point,” said David M. Levy, MD, global healthcare leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“We are now seeing a blurring of the lines between traditional healthcare offerings and consumer-oriented wellness products and services. The market potential is enormous for any company that learns to leverage the science, target individuals and develop products and services that promote health.”
New Market Participants
Consumer demand for personalised care is creating new opportunities for market participants, for example: ‘direct-to-consumer’ diagnostics. This market is growing and controversial. Genetic testing products for in-home use are empowering consumers with real-time information, enabling them to predict their medical risks, detect disease earlier and better manage their health status.
The current size of the global market for genetic testing is estimated at $730 million, with a 20% annual growth rate. These products currently represent a relatively small portion of the market, but DTC testing is set to grow rapidly in response to consumer demand and declining prices.
Consumer products
Companies in the consumer products market are not only exploiting the new science in the development of new products but also have the marketing expertise and insights to target consumers that many healthcare organisations don’t have. Food and beverage companies have long fortified their products with vitamins and other nutrients, and through advancements in science and food manufacturing they will increasingly tailor products, packaging and promotional activities that appeal to health-conscious consumers.
PwC points out that as early as 2003, Nestle, a global leader in foods that deliver nutrition, health and wellness benefits, announced that it was “moving from an agrifood business to an R&D-driven nutrition, health and wellness company”. The pace of growth in this area, however, may be set by complex issues such as establishment of a regulatory approval pathway for the validation of health claims, intellectual property protections and cost of research and development.
Telecom and Technology
Technology companies, including some with little or no health expertise, are capitalising on emerging opportunities to manage vast quantities of genetic and other health data and build IT infrastructure and connectivity solutions.
Challenges for traditional healthcare
The growth of personalised medicine will change the role of traditional healthcare organisations and create new challenges. Most notably, it is one of the market forces driving the changing business model of big pharma away from the blockbuster drug model to a more collaborative model focused on outcomes and specialised therapies.
The report says primary care providers may have to build new services around prevention and wellness, and in some countries can expect to face low-cost competition from non-healthcare companies skilled in consumer marketing and consumers armed with knowledge of their options.
In addition, physicians will need training in genomics and proteomics in order to stay relevant in the area of personalised medicine. To educate the next generation of physicians and nurses in the complex issues raised by genomic and proteomic science, universities will have to update their programmes.
How payers approach personalised medicine will influence the business models of pharma and diagnostics companies as well as providers who depend on third-party payment. Payers that want to embrace the new science will have to rethink how they define coverage. Insurance premiums today are based on actuarial statistics that apply to large, predictable populations.
By contrast, personalised medicine targets small populations which are far less stable and predictable from an actuarial standpoint.
“There is an urgent need to increase the value of healthcare, but we can’t get there by fixing the healthcare of yesterday. We need to replace our current focus on treating disease with a better approach that is personalised, preventive, predictive and participatory, the basic tenants of personalised medicine,” said Gerald McDougall, principal in charge of personalised medicine and health sciences, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“Greater collaboration around personalised medicine should be a key strategy for health reform.”
The Science of Personalized Medicine: Translating the Promise into Practice, can be downloaded at www.pwc.com/personalizedmedicine.
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