ABSTRACT
The global pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve. Developments in genomics, proteomics, immunology and cellular biology are set to promise a plethora of new targets for pharmacotherapy. The hope is that the targeted use of new medicines by specic patients (i.e. personalized medicine) based on the molecular characteristics of their disease and/or genetic polymorphisms relevant to the medicine’s metabolism and toxicity will lead to improved clinical outcomes (Day et al. 2011). Nonetheless, the industry is also facing a myriad daunting challenges – numerous patent expirations, longer product development times, continued low output, increased stakeholder demands and increasing costs – so the “business as usual” operating model is no longer an option (Kaitlin 2010).
