Personalized medicine, says this article in The Scientist, could breathe new life into failed drug candidates. "If Merck could have known in advance who would have cardiovascular problems from Vioxx, they may not have had to withdraw it from the market," Personalized Medicine Coalition's Edward Abrahams says. "'Failed' just means it failed in a percent of the population." And as Francis Collins settles in as the head of NIH, the article adds, many expect that personalized medicine will move to the top of the to-do list
In an accompanying editorial, Richard Gallagher writes that "we've stumbled forward a little on the road to personalized medicine, but it looks like the pace towards Nirvana is about to pick up."