There has been a lot of activity of late in the area of Stratified Medicine (SM)[1]. Almost every major Pharma and Biotech company has initiatives in this area. Recently, there have been high profile launches of innovative therapies such as Pfizer’s lung cancer drug called Xalkori and Roche’s Zelboraf for melanoma. In addition, there are approximately forty SM products in late stage registration trials that will enter the market in the near term. However, behind all this activity, there have been subtle changes in how some Pharma/Biotech companies are viewing SM and adapting to the changes resulting from it. The mindset within industry circles is quickly switching from “SM will shrink my market and is a threat to my business” to “SM is a strategic asset for us to gain competitive advantage.” The industry is moving from ad-hoc and decentralized approaches of SM to coordinated, centralized and process-driven approaches in planning and operational activities in SM across various geographies.
