Pharmacogenomic studies follow 90/10 rule

Genome testing

Credit: NIGMS

Few pharmacogenomic studies focus on orphan or tropical diseases prevalent in developing countries, according to research published in Global Public Health.

Researchers found that, from 1997 to 2010, pharmacogenomics research most commonly focused on cancers, depression or psychological disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

Less than 4% of publications dealt with orphan or infectious diseases.

According to the researchers, this suggests pharmacogenomic research follows the 90/10 rule.

“It is recognized that the distribution of technology and research follows the so-called 90/10 ratio rule; that is, 90% of global funding for health research, including the development drugs, is invested to treat 10% of the world’s population,” said study author Catherine Olivier, a PhD candidate at the University of Montreal’s School of Public Health.

This inequality between rich and poor countries led the United Nations (UN) to make the fight against HIV-AIDS, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases one of its 8 Millennium Development Goals, adopted in September 2000 by the 189 UN member states.

To verify the extent to which pharmacogenomic research has addressed orphan and tropical diseases, Olivier searched for pharmacogenomic studies published from 1997 to 2010. She identified 626 studies in 171 journals.

Each study was analyzed according to the type of disease it concerned, the origin of its authors, and their affiliation with pharmaceutical companies, if any.

“The information collected allowed us to draw a map showing current and historical trends in the development of pharmacogenomic research,” Olivier said.

She found that, from 1997 to 2003, there were 401 publications on pharmacogenomics in the PubMed database. And the majority of them (67%) were published in a single journal, Pharmacogenetics. Then, from 2003 to 2010, the number of studies doubled.

However, the apparent enthusiasm for this type of research seems to have been artificially inflated. Olivier noted that the percentage of nonoriginal publications, including reviews, meta-analyses, and debates, increased from 15% in 1997 to 51% in 2010.

“The number of original articles—that is, studies focusing on a new aspect of pharmacogenomics—began to decline after 2002,” Olivier said.

Moreover, during the period analyzed, nearly 23% of published studies in pharmacogenomics dealt with the area of oncology, followed by depression and psychological disorders (14.7%), and cardiovascular disorders (13.6%).

“Rare diseases, tropical infections, and maternal health, which should have benefited from pharmacogenomic research under the Millennium Development Goals, represented only 3.8% of published studies,” Olivier explained.

She noted that investigators from countries most likely to be interested in these areas of research conducted few studies on rare diseases and tropical infections.

“Of the 65 publications from BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—only 2 concerned rare diseases and tropical infections,” Olivier said.

Yet these diseases represented nearly half (45.5%) of the main causes of mortality in underdeveloped countries, and 15% in developing countries, according to 2008 data issued by the UN.

“Unfortunately, our study indicates that we are far from fulfilling the promise to reduce health inequalities in the world,” Olivier said, “a promise which was made before the adoption of the Millennium Declaration.”

Genome testing

Credit: NIGMS

Few pharmacogenomic studies focus on orphan or tropical diseases prevalent in developing countries, according to research published in Global Public Health.

Researchers found that, from 1997 to 2010, pharmacogenomics research most commonly focused on cancers, depression or psychological disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

Less than 4% of publications dealt with orphan or infectious diseases.

According to the researchers, this suggests pharmacogenomic research follows the 90/10 rule.

“It is recognized that the distribution of technology and research follows the so-called 90/10 ratio rule; that is, 90% of global funding for health research, including the development drugs, is invested to treat 10% of the world’s population,” said study author Catherine Olivier, a PhD candidate at the University of Montreal’s School of Public Health.

This inequality between rich and poor countries led the United Nations (UN) to make the fight against HIV-AIDS, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases one of its 8 Millennium Development Goals, adopted in September 2000 by the 189 UN member states.

To verify the extent to which pharmacogenomic research has addressed orphan and tropical diseases, Olivier searched for pharmacogenomic studies published from 1997 to 2010. She identified 626 studies in 171 journals.

Each study was analyzed according to the type of disease it concerned, the origin of its authors, and their affiliation with pharmaceutical companies, if any.

“The information collected allowed us to draw a map showing current and historical trends in the development of pharmacogenomic research,” Olivier said.

She found that, from 1997 to 2003, there were 401 publications on pharmacogenomics in the PubMed database. And the majority of them (67%) were published in a single journal, Pharmacogenetics. Then, from 2003 to 2010, the number of studies doubled.

However, the apparent enthusiasm for this type of research seems to have been artificially inflated. Olivier noted that the percentage of nonoriginal publications, including reviews, meta-analyses, and debates, increased from 15% in 1997 to 51% in 2010.

“The number of original articles—that is, studies focusing on a new aspect of pharmacogenomics—began to decline after 2002,” Olivier said.

Moreover, during the period analyzed, nearly 23% of published studies in pharmacogenomics dealt with the area of oncology, followed by depression and psychological disorders (14.7%), and cardiovascular disorders (13.6%).

“Rare diseases, tropical infections, and maternal health, which should have benefited from pharmacogenomic research under the Millennium Development Goals, represented only 3.8% of published studies,” Olivier explained.

She noted that investigators from countries most likely to be interested in these areas of research conducted few studies on rare diseases and tropical infections.

“Of the 65 publications from BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—only 2 concerned rare diseases and tropical infections,” Olivier said.

Yet these diseases represented nearly half (45.5%) of the main causes of mortality in underdeveloped countries, and 15% in developing countries, according to 2008 data issued by the UN.

“Unfortunately, our study indicates that we are far from fulfilling the promise to reduce health inequalities in the world,” Olivier said, “a promise which was made before the adoption of the Millennium Declaration.”

Genome testing

Credit: NIGMS

Few pharmacogenomic studies focus on orphan or tropical diseases prevalent in developing countries, according to research published in Global Public Health.

Researchers found that, from 1997 to 2010, pharmacogenomics research most commonly focused on cancers, depression or psychological disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

Less than 4% of publications dealt with orphan or infectious diseases.

According to the researchers, this suggests pharmacogenomic research follows the 90/10 rule.

“It is recognized that the distribution of technology and research follows the so-called 90/10 ratio rule; that is, 90% of global funding for health research, including the development drugs, is invested to treat 10% of the world’s population,” said study author Catherine Olivier, a PhD candidate at the University of Montreal’s School of Public Health.

This inequality between rich and poor countries led the United Nations (UN) to make the fight against HIV-AIDS, malaria, and neglected tropical diseases one of its 8 Millennium Development Goals, adopted in September 2000 by the 189 UN member states.

To verify the extent to which pharmacogenomic research has addressed orphan and tropical diseases, Olivier searched for pharmacogenomic studies published from 1997 to 2010. She identified 626 studies in 171 journals.

Each study was analyzed according to the type of disease it concerned, the origin of its authors, and their affiliation with pharmaceutical companies, if any.

“The information collected allowed us to draw a map showing current and historical trends in the development of pharmacogenomic research,” Olivier said.

She found that, from 1997 to 2003, there were 401 publications on pharmacogenomics in the PubMed database. And the majority of them (67%) were published in a single journal, Pharmacogenetics. Then, from 2003 to 2010, the number of studies doubled.

However, the apparent enthusiasm for this type of research seems to have been artificially inflated. Olivier noted that the percentage of nonoriginal publications, including reviews, meta-analyses, and debates, increased from 15% in 1997 to 51% in 2010.

“The number of original articles—that is, studies focusing on a new aspect of pharmacogenomics—began to decline after 2002,” Olivier said.

Moreover, during the period analyzed, nearly 23% of published studies in pharmacogenomics dealt with the area of oncology, followed by depression and psychological disorders (14.7%), and cardiovascular disorders (13.6%).

“Rare diseases, tropical infections, and maternal health, which should have benefited from pharmacogenomic research under the Millennium Development Goals, represented only 3.8% of published studies,” Olivier explained.

She noted that investigators from countries most likely to be interested in these areas of research conducted few studies on rare diseases and tropical infections.

“Of the 65 publications from BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—only 2 concerned rare diseases and tropical infections,” Olivier said.

Yet these diseases represented nearly half (45.5%) of the main causes of mortality in underdeveloped countries, and 15% in developing countries, according to 2008 data issued by the UN.

“Unfortunately, our study indicates that we are far from fulfilling the promise to reduce health inequalities in the world,” Olivier said, “a promise which was made before the adoption of the Millennium Declaration.”