Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11085

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Publication type: Journal Article

Kahn J.
Race in a Bottle
Scientific American 2007 Aug;
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=B0FEC94D-E7F2-99DF-3CD8F25918B63A39&ref=rss

Abstract:

Drugmakers are eager to develop medicines targeted at ethnic groups, but so far they have made poor choices based on unsound science

APPROVAL of BiDil as a treatment for congestive heart failure in African-Americans has encouraged drugmakers to consider developing other medicines targeted at racial or ethnic groups. But most scientists agree that these categories are not useful for predicting drug responses, because the genetic variation among individuals in the same race is much greater than the variation between races.

Two years ago, on June 23, 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first “ethnic” drug. Called BiDil (pronounced “bye-dill”), it was intended to treat congestive heart failure-the progressive weakening of the heart muscle to the point where it can no longer pump blood efficiently-in African-Americans only. The approval was widely declared to be a significant step toward a new era of personalized medicine, an era in which pharmaceuticals would be specifically designed to work with an individual’s particular genetic makeup. Known as pharmacogenomics, this approach to drug development promises to reduce the cost and increase the safety and efficacy of new therapies. BiDil was also hailed as a means to improve the health of African-Americans, a community woefully underserved by the U.S. medical establishment. Organizations such as the Association of Black Cardiologists and the Congressional Black Caucus strongly supported the drug’s approval…

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