Why ‘epidrugs’ will be the next major focus for precision medicine It is not just our genes that dictate how our bodies cope with disease and respond to drugs — by identifying the modifications to our DNA strands, and the histone proteins that regulate gene expression, we can uncover a whole new direction for diagnostic biomarkers, therapeutic biomarkers and …
Going against type: the new class of cancer therapies targeting mutations rather than tissues ‘Tumour agnostic’ drugs offer a more effective and tolerable therapy for a wide range of people with cancer, so why has the NHS rejected its first one?…
NHS Scotland to provide £100,000-per-year cystic fibrosis drug A five-year deal to supply NHS Scotland with cystic fibrosis drugs Orkambi and Symkevi has been secured after discussions between the manufacturer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and the Scottish government.…
Pharmacists must embrace pharmacogenetic services before other professions beat them to it Multidisciplinary genetic testing services will help patients receive more targeted medicines, and pharmacists are the obvious healthcare professional to lead them.…
Funding for Genomics England to reduce by £40m under 2019/2020 DHSC spending plans The Department of Health and Social Care has put forward plans to reduce its funding to Genomics England by £40m in 2019/2020 as the body receives a new funding model to match its latest target to sequence five million genomes in five years.…
Project to sequence 100,000 genomes from NHS patients hits target The 100,000 Genomes Project has reached its goal to sequence 100,000 genomes from NHS patients by the end of 2018, Matt Hancock, health and social care secretary, has announced.…
Raised urate levels more strongly linked to genetics than diet, study finds Diet contributes much less towards the development of high serum urate levels than genetic factors, study results reported in The BMJ suggest.…
Major study boosts knowledge of blood pressure genetics A study has found over 500 genetic regions, known as loci, that are associated with blood pressure characteristics and researchers say the information could enable high-risk individuals to be targeted earlier for hypertension prevention.…
Health secretary says 5 million genomes will be sequenced in next five years From 2019, all seriously ill children and adults with certain rare diseases or hard-to-treat cancers will be offered whole-genome sequencing as part of their care, Matt Hancock has said.…
Access to personalised cardiovascular risk information boosts lifestyle change Research has shown that giving patients personalised information about their disease risk can motivate them to make lifestyle changes.…