Sustaining development of stratified medicines in the UK healthcare system: a commentary

The UK healthcare system holds a favorable position in the development of stratified medicines through strong scientific innovation, robust biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and comparatively simple regulatory and reimbursement processes. Organizations such as its robust health technology assessment agency, the NICE and its mature socialized healthcare system, the National Health Service, enable innovative medicines, including stratified treatments for cancer and infectious disease, to be rapidly assessed for their effectiveness and value to patients in the UK. However, our recent observations with a variety of UK healthcare stakeholders suggest that certain features need to be improved if the favorable position in stratified medicine development, and consequential beneficial outcome to patients, is to be sustained and indeed further enhanced to a position of pre-eminence. Key changes suggested are removing healthcare silos and enabling multidisciplinary teams to translate scientific and medical innovation into the best practice; expanding the UK skill base in certain disciplines including medical pathology, health economics and clinical informatics; and using successful pilot cases of stratified medicines to better educate stakeholders in a drive to change healthcare culture. Through this cultural change, the UK would offer healthcare based on prediction and prevention rather than symptom-based diagnosis and reactive treatment.