A Reachable Goal: Application of Pharmacogenomics Biomarkers to ImproveDrug Efficacy and Safety

Abstract

Ensuring drug efficacy and safety are unremitting challenges for drug manufacturers and public health organizations worldwide. It has been estimated that, when all of the drugs in the market used to treat common diseases are considered, only 25% to 60% of patients exhibit the expected pharmacological response [1], while a small portion of patients could develop adverse reactions (ADRs). ADRs are one of the leading causes of illness and death associated with prescription medications, and ADRs are estimated to occur in 6.2-6.7% of all hospitalized patients, resulting in more than 2 million adverse drug reaction cases annually, including approximate 100,000 incidences of death in the United States [2].