Genomics Industry

The pharmaceutical industry has been working to integrate genetic and genomic information into the drug discovery process. Essentially all of the major pharmaceutical companies have such programs, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and Novartis. From the beginning of compound synthesis through the identification of drug targets, genomics is changing the traditional drug development process. Understanding the influence of polymorphisms on drug target binding is critical to optimizing drug development. This is especially important now, because successes in combinatorial chemistry have given rise to a tremendous increase in the number compounds to be analyzed.