Link to EAHP Statements

• Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statement – 1.1
• Section 4 – Clinical Pharmacy: Statements – 4.1, 4.8

ACPE UAN: 0475-0000-23-001-L04-P – A knowledge-based activity  

Abstract

The EU Health Ministers define personalized medicine as “A medical model using characterization of individuals’ phenotypes and genotypes (e.g. molecular profiling, medical imaging, lifestyle data) for tailoring the right therapeutic strategy for the right person at the right time, and/or to determine the predisposition to disease and/or to deliver timely and targeted prevention” (1).

New technologies are developing to determine the individual patient’s genetic information, often referred to as “omics”, which assist in identifying the risk of developing certain diseases as well as selection effective medication treatments and avoiding medication side effects. This omics information combined with the patient’s age, organ function, comorbidities, existing medication treatment, diet and allergies provide the basis for selecting the best medication treatment for the individual patient. This information should be combined with the patient’s preference of medication treatment.

Indeed, a core part of the hospital pharmacist’s function is to individualise patient treatment based on objective data in collaboration with physicians and patients, hence the concept of personalized medicine provide ample opportunity for the hospital pharmacist in daily practice.

1: https://ec.europa.eu/health/medicinal-products/personalised-medicine_en

Learning objectives

After the session, the participant should be able to:

• Define the concept of personalised medicine
• Describe the role of hospital pharmacists in personalised medicine
• Discuss current and future tasks for hospital pharmacists in personalised medicine

Educational need addressed

Hospital pharmacists are key placers in decision making regarding the optimal medication treatment of patients. Personalised medicine has in recent years become a hot topic with new opportunities to individualise medication therapy, and therefore it is important for hospital pharmacists to understand and operate within this field.

Keywords: Personalised medicine, pharmacogenetics, individualised medication therapy