Pfizer, Medco collaborating on precision medicine

[October 27, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. is partnering with prescription benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. to find ways to match individual patients with the best treatment for their disease.

The research collaboration is part of Pfizer's focus on precision medicine. This uses information about people's genes and physical characteristics to understand the biological processes of disease and identify patients likely to benefit from a particular drug.

New drugs may target subgroups of patients with similar genetic profiles that may predispose them to getting a particular disease.

New York-based Pfizer and Medco, of Franklin Lakes, N.J., will jointly plan and conduct studies, evaluating patient subgroups and applying that information to discovering and testing drugs.

[Associated Press]

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