Return on Investment
12/06/13 16:28 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
Submitted by S. Pelech - Kinexus on Wed, 06/12/2013 - 23:05
The timing of the production of this report is coincident with the reduction of NIH research funding through the sequestration, and it was largely funded by a diverse number of academic institutions and some companies that have a vested interest in continued support for genomics-based research under the umbrella organization United for Medical Research.
A major problem with the original 2011 study, which is recapitulated in the recent update, is that it blurs the economic benefits from the formal Human Genome Sequencing (HGS) Project with the independent genomics-based research that was underway before, during and since its formal inception and completion. For example, most of the G protein-coupled receptor and protein kinase targets used by the pharmaceutical industry for drug discovery and development were independently identified and sequenced from the government-subsidized genome sequencing programs. These are the two largest families of drug targets researched by academia and pursued by industry even now.
One of the measures of the impact of genome sequencing offered in the latest update to the Battelle Report is the recent private sector employment in the genomics-enabled U.S. Industry. In the table provided, it is clearly evident that there has been essentially no growth in employment in any of the various genomics sectors in the last 5 years. This was the only table offered that documented any recent trends, although one of the major conclusions of the study was that “the broad and functional impacts of the human genome sequencing are just beginning to be realized.”
While the HGS Project clearly spurred a dramatic reduction in the costs of DNA sequencing, this has not resulted in any substantial declines in the costs of proteomics-based analyses nor much further insights into the roles and functions of the approximately 22,000 proteins encoded by about 2.5% of the human genome. More than a decade after the completion of the sequencing of the human genome, we still know little about 40% of the human proteins besides their gene sequence and where they are expressed in diverse cells, tissues and organs. Sequencing genomes faster and cheaper is not really translating into diagnosing and treating diseases any quicker, less expensively nor more effectively. This just will not happen unless there are parallel investments in other types of “omics” research, nanotechnology and pharmaceutical drug development.
In estimating the economic impact of the genomics revolution, it is important to also consider the lost opportunity in other areas of biomedical research that were underfunded and could have been more productive in managing and reducing human disease and driven biotechnology in other fruitful directions. Presumably, no fewer jobs would have been created. It would seem that the major benefactors of the HGS Project were really the companies that supplied the equipment and reagents to support DNA sequencing efforts. To sustain such a profitable industry, a significant portion of research dollars is now expended in sequencing the genomes from as many diverse species as feasible and from the largest numbers of people possible. Unfortunately, it will be a long time before such DNA sequencing efforts can provide meaningful data in the absence of knowledge about the proteins that encode, including their regulation, interactions and functions.
Despite all of the hype, personalized genome sequencing is still not really a commercial activity. A small number of companies are offering SNP chip analyses of a tiny subset of human mutations that in most cases provide general statistics about disease risks that apply to populations and not individuals. Except in only a tiny number of cases, thus far it is not evident that this type of information provided to consumers has any significant impacts on morbidity and mortality. The odd instance when genome sequencing has yielded some real insight, it is highly publicized, probably because it is so rare.
Link to the original blog post
The timing of the production of this report is coincident with the reduction of NIH research funding through the sequestration, and it was largely funded by a diverse number of academic institutions and some companies that have a vested interest in continued support for genomics-based research under the umbrella organization United for Medical Research.
A major problem with the original 2011 study, which is recapitulated in the recent update, is that it blurs the economic benefits from the formal Human Genome Sequencing (HGS) Project with the independent genomics-based research that was underway before, during and since its formal inception and completion. For example, most of the G protein-coupled receptor and protein kinase targets used by the pharmaceutical industry for drug discovery and development were independently identified and sequenced from the government-subsidized genome sequencing programs. These are the two largest families of drug targets researched by academia and pursued by industry even now.
One of the measures of the impact of genome sequencing offered in the latest update to the Battelle Report is the recent private sector employment in the genomics-enabled U.S. Industry. In the table provided, it is clearly evident that there has been essentially no growth in employment in any of the various genomics sectors in the last 5 years. This was the only table offered that documented any recent trends, although one of the major conclusions of the study was that “the broad and functional impacts of the human genome sequencing are just beginning to be realized.”
While the HGS Project clearly spurred a dramatic reduction in the costs of DNA sequencing, this has not resulted in any substantial declines in the costs of proteomics-based analyses nor much further insights into the roles and functions of the approximately 22,000 proteins encoded by about 2.5% of the human genome. More than a decade after the completion of the sequencing of the human genome, we still know little about 40% of the human proteins besides their gene sequence and where they are expressed in diverse cells, tissues and organs. Sequencing genomes faster and cheaper is not really translating into diagnosing and treating diseases any quicker, less expensively nor more effectively. This just will not happen unless there are parallel investments in other types of “omics” research, nanotechnology and pharmaceutical drug development.
In estimating the economic impact of the genomics revolution, it is important to also consider the lost opportunity in other areas of biomedical research that were underfunded and could have been more productive in managing and reducing human disease and driven biotechnology in other fruitful directions. Presumably, no fewer jobs would have been created. It would seem that the major benefactors of the HGS Project were really the companies that supplied the equipment and reagents to support DNA sequencing efforts. To sustain such a profitable industry, a significant portion of research dollars is now expended in sequencing the genomes from as many diverse species as feasible and from the largest numbers of people possible. Unfortunately, it will be a long time before such DNA sequencing efforts can provide meaningful data in the absence of knowledge about the proteins that encode, including their regulation, interactions and functions.
Despite all of the hype, personalized genome sequencing is still not really a commercial activity. A small number of companies are offering SNP chip analyses of a tiny subset of human mutations that in most cases provide general statistics about disease risks that apply to populations and not individuals. Except in only a tiny number of cases, thus far it is not evident that this type of information provided to consumers has any significant impacts on morbidity and mortality. The odd instance when genome sequencing has yielded some real insight, it is highly publicized, probably because it is so rare.
Link to the original blog post