Vancouver, BC – In support of British Columbia taking a leadership role in developing personalized medicine, Genome BC has announced it will invest $3M towards a $9M program that will advance personalized medicine techniques and practices.

Increased health care costs and medical challenges due to an ageing population contribute to BC spending over $14 billion annually on health care delivery, which is over 36% of the provincial budget. This total is expected to increase between 5-7% each year. "The pressure is on for innovation," admits Dr. Pierre Meulien, Genome BC's Chief Scientific Officer. "Genomics-based personalized medicine has the potential to deliver the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time. This is the future of health care, not just in our province but globally."

The $9M program, called Genomics and Health: Personalized Medicine Program is jointly funded by Genome BC and strategic partners, including Canadian and international sources. The Program will typically provide funding support in the range of $250,000 - $1,000,000 per project. Funding will be provided for up to 24 months in areas related to:

• the use of new molecular diagnostics that improve decision-making in a clinical setting;
• the implementation of novel therapeutics or existing therapeutics for novel indications into the health system;
• the improvement of public health outcomes; and,
• initiatives that promise to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of the health care system.

The Program will support genomics–based research that can be applied to the health care system in a cost-effective manner. Projects that engage clinicians, patient advocates, and health care providers and focus on both improved patient care and creating a more economically sustainable health care system will be its top priority.

"Clinical medicine relies on research. Every decision we make as physicians has its basis in the research that supported the treatment to be effective, safe and cost-effective," says Dr. Nadine Caron, General and Endocrine Surgeon at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia in Prince George and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of British Columbia's Northern Medical Program. "As physicians, we are expected to treat patients based on their individual clinical factors, such as age, underlying medical conditions and their personal choice of treatment options. But now through genomics, it is exciting to witness the possibility of translating clinical decisions based on personalized elements of disease that are invisible to the naked eye, but significant in the ultimate outcome. Genomics can be a tie that finally connects clinical medicine and the research that sustains it to an individual patient who endures a diagnosis. What I recommend to my patients in the future will be determined by the research we do today."

Considered to be a long-term investment in alignment with Genome BC's 2010-2015 strategy, Genome BC is hoping that this Program will be the foundation on which a larger, long-term initiative would be funded to implement the translation of innovations based in genomics into the health system. For more information about Genomics and Health: Personalized Medicine Program or to apply, please click here.

About Genome British Columbia
Founded in 2000, Genome BC works collaboratively with government, universities and industry as the catalyst for a genomics-driven life sciences cluster with significant social and economic benefits for the Province and Canada. The organization's research portfolio, over $425 million since inception, includes 75 projects and technology platforms focused on areas of strategic importance to British Columbia such as human health, forestry, fisheries, bioenergy, mining, agriculture, and the environment. Genome BC programs are funded by: the Provincial Government of British Columbia; the Government of Canada through Genome Canada and Western Economic Diversification Canada; and other public and private partners.

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Media Contact
Sally Greenwood
Genome BC, Director of Communications
604 637 4373 or sgreenwood@genomebc.ca

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