Health, Taxpayer, Business Groups Team to Survey Businesses on Healthcare
Genomics,the medical application of genetic research,is expected to usher in what some have called an era of personalized medicine, where pharmaceuticals and treatments can be tailored to a patient’s specific makeup.
Genomics also could lead to some shifts in relationships among healthcare players. That was among the messages shared by Charles Cantor, chief scientific officer of San Diego-based Sequenom Inc., during a forum sponsored by Allergan Inc., the Irvine-based specialty drug maker, and the University of California, Irvine, Graduate School of Management.
“Genetic testing will become more prevalent. It will not start within a year, but it will start as soon as it’s clear that there are some benefits,” Cantor said. Among other things, he said, such tests are relatively inexpensive, non-invasive and could spare patients “from being subjected to procedures that are more invasive and more expensive.”
“Your genes never change. The test is black-and-white, but the implications are not black-and-white,” Cantor said.
Health insurance also came up in Cantor’s talk.
“Insurance companies must move from confrontation to partnership,” he said. “That means the insurance industry must change dramatically.”
Genetic-testing laboratories, in particular, are expected to face challenges as they try to convince parsimonious insurance companies of the benefits of such assays. Analysts estimate that gene-based tests could fetch laboratories hundreds of dollars per person, while a routine blood test or Pap smear might fetch between $10 and $40 per test.
On physicians, Cantor said he thought biogenetics would change the role of doctors to facilitators, rather than “wise counselors,” as more genetic and environmental data become available to patients.
Cantor also addressed the role of drug companies, saying there may be blockbuster drugs in the offing, particularly if genomic research is able to identify specific targets for the pharmaceutical industry to go after.
Sequenom, which trades on the NASDAQ exchange, is a discovery genetics company. The company focuses on identifying potential disease-related genes that affect significant portions of the overall population.
Businesses Queried on Healthcare
The California Medical Association, California Nurses Association, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and the American Small Business Alliance have joined to solicit employers’ takes on healthcare through an online survey. The link is www.businesshealthsurvey.org.
The coalition’s press release indicates that it wants to begin “a dialogue about overhauling and integrating the public healthcare system and the private healthcare system.” Some of the sponsoring organizations, particularly the California Nurses Association and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, have been among the more vocal critics of the current healthcare system, particularly when it comes to managed healthcare companies’ role in it.
One of the survey questions, however, could draw some heat: it asks employers their feelings about a universal healthcare system. Many business groups have regarded universal healthcare with disdain over the years , several advocacy groups and the health insurance industry were among the driving forces in killing off universal healthcare proposals floated during the first Clinton administration.
UCI Team Finds Estrogen Receptor
A University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine research team has found that a specific brain receptor for estrogen, a sex hormone, helps regulate pressure and blood flow there. The receptor may be an effective target for new drugs to treat stroke and other brain injuries caused by high blood pressure.
“This receptor could help explain why women have fewer strokes than men before they reach menopause,” said Sue Duckles, a UCI professor of pharmacology who participated in the study. “We believe this study is among the first to show how estrogen affects arteries in the cerebral cortex.”
Findings from the study, which was conducted on mice, appear in the November issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Bits and Pieces:
PacifiCare Health Systems Inc., Santa Ana, said that it is using an integration server developed by Vitria Technology Inc., Sunnyvale, in order to comply with provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 VisionQuest Industries Inc., Irvine, said it opened a surgical laboratory in its corporate headquarters. VisionQuest said the lab could be applied to things such as surgeon-to-surgeon training, testing new surgical techniques and demonstrating new medical products Ambry Genetics Corp., Costa Mesa, said it developed a tool to test for more than 900 mutations of the gene that causes cystic fibrosis. Ambry said its test uses DNA sequencing technology similar to that employed by the Human Genome Project St. Joseph Hospital, Orange, completed an auditorium renovation intended to enhance professional education efforts. St. Joseph said technologies and systems would be used to evaluate patients, perform live surgical procedures, and conduct continuing medical education courses, among other things South Coast Medical Center, Laguna Beach, is participating in a clinical study of Flutamide, a medication designed to treat anorexia.
