ABSTRACT
Genomic technologies have become increasingly more integrated within the pharmaceutical research and development process to accelerate identification of diseasevalidated targets and consequently novel chemical entities (NCEs), which act on these targets. Historically, more than 90% of NCEs entering development have not reached the clinic [1]. Failure of these compounds can be multifaceted; they may show insufficient efficacy, often as a result of inadequate target validation, or they may have unacceptable toxicity profiles in animal studies or initial testing in humans. Even after clinical trials involving hundreds of patients, there is still a risk of the emergence of unexpected toxicity in a subset of the population due to rare or population-specific adverse events. Genetic variation can be an underlying factor in all these issues of failure in the drug-discovery process; pharmaceutical companies are now beginning to recognize this and invest their efforts accordingly.
