Precision Medicine in India 

Syllabus: GS 2 / Health 

In News

• Precision medicine is bringing in a new era of personalized healthcare. 

About Precision medicine

• Precision medicine, sometimes known as “personalized medicine” is an innovative approach to tailoring disease prevention and treatment that takes into account differences in people’s genes, environments, and lifestyles.
• The goal of precision medicine is to target the right treatments to the right patients at the right time.

Major Contributors 

• Emerging technologies such as gene-editing and mRNA therapeutics also contribute to precision medicine.
  • In a recent success story, researchers were able to restore vision in people who had lost it due to a genetic mutation using gene therapy.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers were able to use the mRNA platform to develop new vaccines in record time, winning the technology a Nobel Prize last year.
• Organ-on-chips is another area that promises precision medical solutions.
  • These small microfluidic devices containing human cells can replicate the microenvironment of a tumour or an organ in a laboratory setting.
  • They are expected to allow researchers to test drugs in settings more similar to the drugs’ eventual user.
• Biobanks’ Role: Biobanks store biological samples and genetic data, crucial for precision medicine. Large, diverse biobanks are essential for broad societal benefits.

Precision medicine in India

• Precision medicine has gained momentum since the completion of the Human Genome Project.
• Since then, genomics has played a major role in the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers, chronic diseases, and immunological, cardiovascular, and liver diseases.
• The Indian precision medicine market is estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 16% and is expected to be worth more than $5 billion by 2030, according to industry estimates. 
• Currently, it contributes 36% of the national bioeconomy, alongside cancer immunotherapy, gene editing, biologics, etc. 

Developments 

• The development of precision therapeutics is also part of the new ‘BioE3’ policy.
• In October 2023, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization approved NexCAR19, India’s domestically developed CAR-T cell therapy, and earlier this year the government opened a dedicated centre for it. 
• India has 19 registered biobanks and the ‘Genome India‘ programme finished sequencing 10,000 genomes from 99 ethnic groups, to identify treatments for rare genetic diseases, among others
  • The Paediatric Rare Genetic Disorders (PRaGeD) mission could help identify new genes or variants to develop targeted therapies for genetic diseases that affect children.
• Recently, the Apollo Cancer Centre and a collaboration between Siemens Healthineers and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, opened new facilities to deploy artificial intelligence for precision medicine.

Issues and Concerns 

• At present, India’s regulation of biobanks is inconsistent, with gaps that could undermine public trust and limit the potential of precision medicine. In particular, there is no law to protect the rights of individuals
• India’s regulatory gaps could prevent it from maximizing precision medicine’s potential.
• In the absence of an overarching law, Indians could be deprived of the ownership of biological samples and/or the data thereof, and the profits from the resulting research findings.
• In the absence of a single authority to regulate biobanks and no penalty for misconduct, the risk of inconsistencies arising from sample mishandling and ethical violations like data or sample sharing for non-consenting purposes is nontrivial.

Global Comparisons

• The U.K., the U.S., Japan, China, and many European countries have laws or comprehensive regulations that address several biobanking issues, including informed consent, withdrawal rights, privacy, and data protection.

Suggestions 

• India is a part of international groups like the Quad and BRICS, and an important plank of its soft diplomatic efforts has been pharmaceuticals.
  • It is a major supplier of generic drugs and is a hub of vaccine manufacturing, and it has plans to expand leadership to include next-generation therapeutics. 
• Stronger data protections and oversight would boost public confidence in biobanks, align India with global standards, and position it for leadership in next-generation therapeutics.
• For precision medicine to succeed, biobanks need to be large and diverse. Otherwise only a small section of society will benefit from the findings of precision medicine.

Source : TH