The Future and Promise of 21st Century Medicine

The Past

Medicine as we know it today came about in three waves:

• Vaccines conquered epidemic diseases in the early 1900.
• Antibiotics arrived during the 1940s.
• Biotechnology was born in the 1980s.

With the advent of biotechnology, medicines from biological substances like DNA and monoclonal antibodies were created. As a result we have more than 200 biotechnology therapies in medical practice, and more are on the horizon.

The Present

Our immediate medical future is in today’s drug pipeline. It holds in excess of 9600 experimental agents:

• More than 2000 for cancer.
• 500 for diabetes.
• 300 for heart disease.
• 400 vaccines.

In 2000, scientists unlocked the mysteries of the human genome. This map of the complete set of human genes shows us how genes influence disease and how drugs act in the body.

The Future

With the knowledge of the human genome we can look beyond today’s “one-size-fits-all” drugs in a long-term movement toward Personalized Medicine. For selected individuals, doctors will be able to use their patients' DNA profile to choose a specific medicine and dose to yield the most benefit and fewest side effects. Genetic information will also streamline clinical trials to get new medicines to patients faster.

These advances could lead to DNA-based vaccines, gene therapy, and other agents that will allow scientists to insert new genes or correct faulty ones and prevent or cure diseases.

Welcome to the future.