American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Feb. 6, 2008

ARTICLE #5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, Feb. 11, 2008

Personalized medicine: Moving forward slowly but surely
Chemical & Engineering News

With its promises of more effective, low-cost therapies for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and other medical conditions, personalized medicine is moving forward but at a slow pace that’s not keeping up with its high expectations, according to an article [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8606cover.html] scheduled for the Feb. 11 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.

In the magazine’s cover story, C&EN Senior Editor Rick Mullin notes that personalized medicine, the practice of catering medical therapies to the specific genetic and disease profiles of patients, represents a major shift from the one-size-fits-all model of traditional medicine. Despite its promise, researchers have had difficulty translating new genetic knowledge into effective therapies.

But fueled by new research tools and new genetic information, the field is silently moving forward. Notable successes include the development of Herceptin, a targeted therapy for breast cancer, and Gleevec, a treatment for lung cancer. Other targeted therapies are in the pipeline. “We are at a kind of crossroads where we have developed a large number of new agents with pharmacologically sound activities,” C&EN quotes one researcher. “But clearly, to hit the home run, you have to match the right drug to the right patient. It’s easier said than done.”

ARTICLE #5 EMBARGOED FOR 9 A.M., EASTERN TIME, Feb. 11, 2008
“Personalized Medicine”

This story will be available on Feb. 11 at http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8606cover.html

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Michael Bernstein
ACS News Service
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Journalists’ Resources

Black History Month: ACS News Media Resources

Journalists covering Black History Month can obtain a variety of resources from the ACS Office of Communications during February. The resources include a news release ( honoring the contributions of three African-American chemists: George Washington Carver, Percy Julian, and Norbert Rillieux. Their contributions include new uses for peanuts and other crops grown in the South, a drug to fight blindness, and a sugar refining process. The ACS has designated each of their achievements as National Historic Chemical Landmarks (www.acs.org/landmarks).The resources also include a Kids Science version of the news release, written for a school-age audience, and a Bytesize Science podcast for young listeners about the contributions of these chemists.

Web link to news release: http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/pressroom/newsreleases/WPCP_008038