OK, maybe that’s an overstatement. But, it’s worth mentioning that President Barack Obama briefly talked about “precision medicine” in his State of the Union address last week.
Here’s what he had to say:
Twenty-first century businesses will rely on American science and technology, research and development. I want the country that eliminated polio and mapped the human genome to lead a new era of medicine — one that delivers the right treatment at the right time.
In some patients with cystic fibrosis, this approach has reversed a disease once thought unstoppable. So tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes, and to give all of us access to the personalized information we need to keep ourselves and our families healthier. We can do this.
I intend to protect a free and open Internet, extend its reach to every classroom and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.
I want Americans to win the race for the kinds of discoveries that unleash new jobs — converting sunlight into liquid fuel; creating revolutionary prosthetics, so that a veteran who gave his arms for his country can play catch with his kids again.
I should also note that Bill Elder, a cystic fibrosis patient who benefited from precision medicine, was one of First Lady Michelle Obama’s guests at the speech.
Politics aside, and while we don’t know details about this initiative other than it could support research at the NIH and the regulation of diagnostic tests by the FDA, we can all appreciate the attention this topic received during the event.
To learn more about a related topic, personalized medicine, you can read my previous post.
To learn how Perficient is helping pharmaceutical companies, as well as academic medical centers and hospitals, with their precision medicine projects, drop us a note.
