Personalised Healthcare: Panacea or Pandora's Box?

CHERTSEY, England, December 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

THE ASTELLAS INNOVATION DEBATE^TM 2015 

i-Genes: What the DNA and Data Revolutions mean for our Health
Chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby

Jonathan Dimbleby introduces the Astellas Innovation Debate 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhhSToTtaRw 

Keynote Speaker: George Freeman, MP, Minister for Life Sciences

Royal Institution of Great Britain, Thursday 29^th January 2015, 6:30pm

To be webcast live: www.innovationdebate.com

Broadcaster and presenter Jonathan Dimbleby will chair a panel of internationally recognised experts for the 3^rd  Astellas Innovation Debate: i-Genes - What the DNA and Data Revolutions mean for our Health on Thursday 29^th January, at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140522/689211 )

As the worlds of science and technology come together, the 2015 Astellas Innovation Debate will discuss recent breakthroughs in genetic medicine and smart technology, and what they mean for our health.

George Freeman MP, the Minister for Life Sciences, will give the keynote speech, outlining the Government's aim to develop, assess and adopt new drugs, devices and diagnostics as we move towards 21st century, personalised healthcare.

Jonathan Dimbleby will then ask a panel of experts -  comprising some of the world's biggest names from science, medicine, law and politics - whether science and technology can offer truly personalised healthcare, when it will become a reality, and at what cost.

They will discuss:

• The possibilities these new genetic insights offer for our health
• The improvements targeted medicines will give patients - and whether they will be more cost effective for health services
• Whether we can afford the full range of medicines personalised healthcare would demand
• The implication for health professionals - will a mass of data from new technologies create a new army of the worried well and swamp doctors?
• With more of our health data digitised, how long before it falls into the wrong hands?
• At what point does smart care become intrusive surveillance?    
• Whether the effort put into these frontiers of medicine divert resources from the real crises of modern healthcare - such as obesity, antibiotic resistance and neurodegenerative disease?

Jonathan Dimbleby, Chair of the 2015 Astellas Innovation Debate, said:

"Today, the latest breakthroughs in science and technology continue to offer new solutions to the medical challenges of our time.  Not only that, but they're changing the way we think about healthcare.

"The emerging field of personalised medicine is a leading example.  Scientists now have the power to read an entire human genome in hours, creating the promise of bespoke treatments tailored to you based on your individual DNA.  This, we're told, could mean new treatments for cancer, and cures for rare genetic diseases.

"Meanwhile, the smart technology revolution is giving us more power than ever before to monitor our own health.  And digital technology is allowing some people - those with diabetes for example - to manage their own medication.

"These breakthroughs undoubtedly offer great promise, but there are also unanswered questions.  I'll be asking a panel of world leading experts whether science and technology can really deliver truly personalised healthcare and medicine. Will it become a reality for the average patient and can our society really afford it.  In short, is personalised healthcare a panacea or a Pandora 's Box?"

The aim of the Astellas Innovation Debate 2015 will be to explore, through thought-provoking discussion, how we can realise a dream of personalised healthcare for all?  

For further information, visit our website http://www.innovationdebate.com, or join the debate on Twitter (@Astellasinnov8   #iGenes)

About The Astellas Innovation Debate 

The Astellas Innovation Debate, organised and funded by Astellas Pharma EMEA, explores the role of innovation in modern society.

This year's event, i-Genes: What the DNA and Data revolutions mean for our health, at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on 29^th January 2015, is bringing together influential and respected figures from the worlds of science, medicine, law and politics to tackle the major issues surrounding scientific innovation today and tomorrow. The aim of The Innovation Debate is to air crucial issues, draw positive conclusions and to move the agenda forward.

Everyone - professionals in science, medicine and industry, and the general public - will have the opportunity to engage with the Astellas Innovation Debate through online media which will take discussions far beyond the walls of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Previous debates have focused on innovation in a time of austerity, nurturing the innovators of the future and the issues of our ageing population.  Panellists, such as Nobel Laureates Professor Sir Andre Geim and Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, Professor Brian Cox, Lord Robert Winston, Professor John Appleby and Professor Mariana Mazzucato have tackled some of the real and important challenges affecting science and scientific discovery, dealing with concrete issues and drawing clear conclusions.

About Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd.  

Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd. operates in 40 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and is the EMEA regional business of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceuticals. The organisation's focus is to deliver outstanding R&D and marketing to continue growing in the world pharmaceutical market. Astellas' presence in Europe also includes an R&D site and three manufacturing plants. The company employs over 4,500 people across the EMEA region. In 2013 Astellas was awarded SCRIP Pharmaceutical Company of the Year in recognition of its commercial success and pipeline development.