Title: Building effective institutional frameworks to support pharmacogenetic research: an international empirical analysis

Authors: Sibylle Gaisser, Marieke Dreiling, Juliane Hartig, Michael M. Hopkins, Jim Ryan, Dolores Ibarreta

Addresses: Competence Center Emerging Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany. ' Competence Center Emerging Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany. ' Competence Center Emerging Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Breslauer Str. 48, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany. ' SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, Freeman Centre, University of Sussex, Sussex House, Brighton, BN1 9QE, UK. ' The CIRCA Group Europe Limited, 26 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. ' European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, 41092 Seville, Spain

Abstract: As science unravels the genetic basis of disease, the opportunities offered by pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics (PGx) for future healthcare become more and more apparent. The objective of this paper is to analyse the current state of PGx research and explore future strategies for more efficient research projects and supportive infrastructures. Based on internet searches and an online survey of public research groups, the current focus of PGx technology and the institutional framework conditions for its performance were determined. The main areas of PGx research are the liver, neoplasms and the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Collaborations are important for knowledge transfer between the private and public sectors. However, for strategic and confidentiality reasons, most collaborations are restricted to preclinical development, early stage clinical studies and the development of methods.

Keywords: stakeholders; research focus; public-private collaboration; institutional frameworks; regulation; multidisciplinarity; pharmacogenetics; healthcare; pharmacogenomics; knowledge transfer; technology transfer; pharmacogenetic research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBT.2008.022492

International Journal of Biotechnology, 2008 Vol.10 No.6, pp.552 - 569

Published online: 09 Jan 2009 *

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