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There are growing concerns around the safety and efficacy of new and existing drugs, and the falling productivity of the pharmaceutical R&D process. Today it takes on average up to 12 years and about USD 800 million to bring a drug to the market. The economic burden of adverse drug reactions to health care systems is also significant: for example, in the United States the cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality exceeded USD 177.4 billion in 2000.
Pharmacogenetics can offer solutions as it provides new ways of understanding how drugs work and how this affects both their safety and efficacy. The opportunities from such understanding are considerable, particularly in driving a more efficient and effective clinical research and innovation enterprise.
The objectives of this conference are to consider how to best capture these opportunities. Pharmacogenetics poses a number of challenges for both the industries that develop drugs and associated pharmacogenetic tests and regulatory authorities. And all parties involved have much to gain in ensuring that short-term decisions do not result in long-term regrets.
The conference aims to identify what it takes to get the enabling environment right and will discuss current policies and practices. It will present options and develop recommendations to guide future OECD action.
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