Omics: Potential role in early-phase drug development

Abstract

The development of high-throughput omics technologies has nourished the hope to improve our understanding and treatment of the pathophysiology of globally increasing diseases such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. These technologies provide innovative tools that have the potential to truly revolutionize patient care. Technologies continue to propel the omics fields forward. However, translating research discovery into routine clinical applications use is a complex process not only from scientific prospective but also from ethical, political, and logistic points of view. Particularly the implementation of omics-based tests requires changes in fundamental processes of regulation, reimbursement, and clinical practice. Altogether, developments in the field of omics technologies hold great promise to optimize patient care and improve outcomes and eventually lead to new tests that are well integrated in routine medical care.