WHO, AstraZeneca & J&J: Creating Precision Medicine For All

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), many populations, particularly low and middle income countries, remain underrepresented in medical data and research.

Due to these limitations, the public health impact of precision medicine is reduced, as well as an increased risk in the widening of health disparities.

Member States are endorsing a new resolution on Precision medicine: a path towards targeted, personalised and equitable care. 

At the 79th World Health Assembly, Member States are planning to take an essential step towards advancing precision medicine, aiming to strengthen equitable, effective and sustainable health systems.

What is precision medicine?

Precision medicine is an innovative and rapidly evolving approach to healthcare that tailors disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient, including their genetic and molecular profile, environment and lifestyle. 

According to WHO, precision medicine involves the use of clinical, molecular, genomic and other health data to improve healthcare outcomes while ensuring appropriate ethical and legal safeguards. 

WHO also highlights that, when responsibly integrated into health systems, precision medicine has the potential to improve outcomes across a wide range of conditions, including: 

• Cancer
• Rare diseases
• Infectious diseases
• Maternal and child health
• Mental health
• Noncommunicable diseases.

It can also help in addressing global inequities in access to healthcare innovations. 

"Precision medicine is not an aspirational idea for health delivery in the future – it is already transforming lives across the world,” says Dr Meg Doherty, Director Science for Health at WHO.

“But its benefits remain out of reach for too many and the research driving progress is concentrated in high income countries. 

“This WHA resolution gives global health leaders, ministries of health and WHO a clear mandate: to act. 

“From infant screening to setting up genomic databases WHO will work with countries to bring about the power of these innovations." 

Member States for ethical health systems

Through the updated resolution, Member States are planning to commit to the development and strengthening of national policies, infrastructure, workforce capacity and governance frameworks.

The aim is to support the safe, ethical and equitable integration of precision medicine into health systems.

While doing so affordability needs to be taken into account, according to the European Commission, those at risk of poverty (6%) are nearly twice as likely to report unmet medical needs, compared to those who are not at risk (3.2%).

Ensuring inclusive research and data systems aids in strengthening regulations, data governance and fostering collaboration across regions.

"By uniting people-centered healthcare with innovation, precision medicine has the potential to transform lives,” says Dr Sylvie Briand, Chief Scientist at WHO.

“This resolution helps ensure those advances serve the shared goal of health for all." 

WHO is requested to provide technical and normative support, review and coordinate existing guidance, facilitate global and regional collaboration and develop a Global Strategy on Precision Medicine to guide equitable and context‑appropriate implementation. 

Investing in personalised care

Many pharmaceutical companies are increasingly adopting precision medicine approaches to improve patient outcomes and develop more targeted therapies. 

AstraZeneca is applying precision medicine across 90% of its research and development portfolio, using technologies such as multi-omics, imaging, AI and machine learning to better understand the biological processes that drive disease. 

The company aims to identify novel drug targets, discover biomarkers that help classify patients into subgroups most likely to respond to treatment, improve clinical trial design and develop diagnostic tests that guide treatment decisions in real-world settings. 

AstraZeneca is applying these methods to diseases including asthma, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

For example, in asthma research, the company is investigating inflammatory biomarkers such as leukotrienes to help match patients with therapies that are more likely to be effective for their specific disease profile. 

“In respiratory diseases, like asthma, there is intense interest in precisely targeting molecules that stimulate key inflammatory pathways that could lead to the development of novel precision medicines in the future,” says Suzanne Cohen, Executive Director and Head of Bioscience Asthma, AstraZeneca.

Similarly, Johnson & Johnson is advancing precision healthcare through targeted and personalised treatments designed to improve outcomes while reducing side effects. 

The company develops companion and complementary diagnostic tools that help healthcare professionals make more informed treatment decisions based on disease mechanisms and patient subtypes. 

Johnson & Johnson also supports the use of biomarker testing and next-generation sequencing technologies to guide treatment selection, particularly in areas such as lung and bladder cancer, while improving healthcare efficiency by reducing ineffective treatments and supporting more effective use of healthcare resources.