Building the bridge between molecular diagnostics and therapeutics

Molecular diagnostics will ultimately have a broad and significant impact on patient treatment. An array of emerging diagnostic tests answer specific and important clinical questions which could offer opportunities for existing and new therapeutics. The development of new diagnostic tests will take time and will require investment in new strategies to find the optimum set of markers, as well as education programs to persuade clinicians, payers and patients to use the new tests and take advantage of the improved therapeutics. Competition among the molecular technologies will be intense; however, it is expected that the most successful companies will exploit synergies between the technologies to develop the most effective molecular diagnostics and, in turn, will improve efficacy of therapeutic practice.