Obama a strong supporter of developing gene tests
This article was originally published in Clinica
When the Genomics and Personalised Medicine Act 2006 was introduced into the 109th US Congress, it didn’t get very far. But its sponsor, a relatively unknown senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, was clearly determined to push the legislation through.
Its reintroduction into the 110th Congress has seen it progress to the Senate committee on health, education, labour and pensions but its sponsor has gone even further. The question is, will Senator Obama’s raised status as the Democratic nominee for the US presidency, spell good news for the passage of his bill (S976)? The diagnostics industry should hope so.
As well as setting up an agency to co-ordinate genomic research, the Genomics and Personalised Medicine Act of 2007 seeks to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to study incentives to encourage companion diagnostic test development. It also calls for more information to be made available on the safety and efficacy of genetic tests and to commission a study for improving federal oversight and regulation of the tests, the latter measure being open to debate as to whether it will benefit industry.
This bill, with its high-profile sponsor, coupled with the passing of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) into law in May (see Clinica No 1309, p 8), potentially creates a very rosy path on which the genetic testing industry can tread.