Projekt

Fraunhofer Institute for
Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Future Report: Individualised Medicine and the Health Care System

Context, central thematic aspects
Currently, lines of development are emerging in various scientific disciplines and fields of technology which could be combined to achieve a major reorientation of medicine in the direction of “individual medicine” This refers to medicine which, to a much greater extent than in the past, is directed at an individual and the individual set of factors influencing their personal health. The hope is for “individual medicine” which enhances the tolerance, efficacy and efficiency of preventive and therapeutic interventions, avoids unnecessary spending on health care and enables development of innovative preventive and therapeutic measures. Lines of development within “individual medicine” include e. g.:

  • Predictive genetic diagnosis which can identify personal predisposition to diseases before the appearance of physical symptoms, opening up new prevention and intervention possibilities
  • Pharmacogenetics which takes into account personal differences in tolerance of drug therapies in developing pharmaceutical substances and using drugs
  • Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine which use the body’s own tissues for innovative transplant therapy
  • Rapid prototyping in production technology, e. g. for manufacturing personalised prosthetics and implants
  • Medical applications of I+C technologies, for example automatic surveying of patient-specific health data for communication to the doctor of the need for intervention appropriate to the individual situation
These lines of development are rooted in results from areas of science and technology such as biotechnology and genetic engineering, nanotechnology, I+C technologies, and production engineering, including microsystem engineering. The influence of these technological innovations is strengthened by a societal trend towards increasingly involving patients in the health care system as active partners. The lines of development have the potential to penetrate all levels of medical care, from prevention through diagnosis and therapy to pharmaceutical R&D and the organisation of medical care itself.

Key questions, approach
The goal of the future report is to cover the current state of science and technology of “individual medicine”, the prospects for the next 10-20 years and their impacts in economic, ethical, legal and social terms.

The future report will explore the following key questions:

  • What does the concept of “individual medicine” mean from the point of view of different social groups?
  • What are the expectations of “individual medicine”, and what concerns are associated with it?
  • Which scientific disciplines and fields of technology are contributing to “individual medicine”?
  • What are the relevant lines of development?
  • Which actors are driving development, and what resources are they drawing on?
  • Which actors are affected but not involved?
  • What is the time horizon of the developments? What does the technology roadmap to “individual medicine” look like? How is its feasibility assessed? How far do separate lines of development differ in this respect? How far do the separate lines of development work together in synergy?
  • How far can implementing the paradigm of “individual medicine” contribute to answering the problems of selected patient groups, and specifically older people and children?
  • What consequences are emerging for the health services, economy, law, ethics, society?
  • What future pictures of possible future “individual medicine” can be created?
  • What needs and options for action are there for politicians and other actors, and how are these evaluated?
  • What recommendations can we derive for dealing with this issue in future?
As a first step, a broad analysis will be made of all the relevant disciplines, fields of technology and lines of development. Based on this, individual clusters of issues will be identified for more detailed analysis.

Status:
Finished (February 2005 – autumn 2006)

Client:
Office of Technology Assessment at the German Parliament
http://www.tab.fzk.de

Partner:
Office of Technology Assessment at the German Parliament
http://www.tab.fzk.de