09 Jan Using precision medicine to treat the long arc of disease

By Laura Joszt, AJMC

In the past year, there have been tremendous advancements in precision medicine, and the big upfront investments are starting to come to fruition, according to panelists at the 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, held January 7-10 in San Francisco, California.

A decade ago, discussions around precision health were looking at a future that still seemed far away, but now, there’s a path and it’s here, said Kevin Conroy, chairman and chief executive officer of Exact Sciences Corporation. These tools are now enabling providers to identify cancer very early in a patient, which couldn’t have been possible 10 years ago.

Chad Robins, chief executive officer and cofounder of Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, added that the definition of precision medicine is evolving with these advances. While precision medicine applies to almost every disease, it got started with cancer, which is unique to each person. Adaptive is now partnering with Genentech to design a truly personalized therapy to look at a specific person’s cancer and the immune response to the tumor. Read more …