Coalition for 21st Century Medicine Applauds NIH Genetic Testing Registry

New Opportunity to Support Innovation and Personalized Medicine

ARLINGTON, Va., March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Coalition for 21st Century Medicine (the Coalition) applauds the creation of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) public database that researchers, consumers, health care providers, and others can search for information submitted by genetic test providers and developers.  Under the leadership of Dr. Francis Collins, such a registry will enhance access to information about the availability, validity, and usefulness of genetic tests, which are the foundation of 21st Century medicine.

The C21CM stands ready to support this effort and work with NIH, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other federal agencies to further develop the registry.  We strongly encourage full participation in the submission of appropriate information to the registry.

The Coalition is committed to facilitating the development, adoption, and use of advanced genetic tests in 21st Century health care.  Accurate, reliable, and timely advanced genetic tests can improve patient outcomes by selecting more effective and safer therapies.  However, inaccurate or unreliable tests or delayed access to accurate and reliable testing can harm patients and waste scarce resources.  Consequently, the Coalition, along with the Genetic Alliance, the Johns Hopkins' Genetics and Public Policy Center and others, have long advocated for a mandatory public genetic test registry.

The new Genetic Test Registry (GTR) will enable developers and performers of genetic tests, including the most innovative and cutting edge genetic tests, to consolidate information about the availability and utility of their tests in a single searchable database.  This information is critical to the appropriate development and maintenance of a risk-based regulatory system that  both assures patient safety and promotes innovation to advance personalized medicine.

More information about the Coalition see www.twentyfirstcenturymedicine.org.

SOURCE Coalition for 21st Century Medicine