Thoughts from PMWC 2016

I went to the Personalized Medicine World conference to learn more about how genomics (and other ‘omics) are advancing drug discovery, molecular diagnostics, current cancer treatment paradigms and creating new sectors like ‘scientific wellness.’   My general observations are:

• The scope and pace of advancement is accelerating:   it is no longer curiosity driven research – searching to see what one might find.  People are figuring out how to leverage the tools/data into insights that enable better, more precise lab tests or smarter and faster drug development.   To borrow a phrase from John Doerr during the Internet boom – if anything the space is being under-hyped.
• Roadblocks to adoption and commercial success remain:  the ability of existing institutions to adapt, change and incorporate new techniques, tools and solutions is much slower than the pace of innovation.   One of the biggest issues (as always in health) is the rigidity in the reimbursement…