FDA: Pharmacies Will Change Dramatically by 2019

WASHINGTON—The pharmaceutical industry and regulators are adjusting to the advent of personalized medicine, said Lawrence Lesko, PhD, FCP, the director of clinical pharmacology and biotherapeutics for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), during a recent lecture at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

He predicted that by 2019 a typical pharmacy will display extensive racks of self-testing kits for the risks of gene-associated diseases and a counseling center along side the prescription counter, where the pharmacist will help patients manage drugs designed for their personal genetic makeup.

Changes will be the inevitable fruits of personalized medicine now taking root, Lesko said, adding that "precision medicine" may have been a better popular name for personalized medicine.