Genetic testing is progressing at a faster pace than anyone envisioned just a few years ago, based on the recent flurry of deal-making in the field. The question now is not whether genetic testing will ever be a business, but will it evolve. Attention is shifting from predisposition to disease testing, which is more viable commercially, and less controversial. Two recent deals in particular indicate serious corporate interest in the field, but both are in a relatively new and currently hot area, pharma-cogenomics. Late this summer, SmithKline Beecham PLCformed a joint venture with Incyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. [See Deal] to develop clinical genetic tests for measuring the effectiveness of pharmaceutical compounds.
Several smaller deals underscore the growing interest in pharma-cogenomics. Variagenics Inc. 's September purchase of the assets of Avitech Diagnostics...