In honor of Rare Disease Day, our VP of Drug Discovery, Anne Fortier, published an insightful piece in The Scientist. The piece highlights how strategies perfected by the rare disease research community could provide the blueprint for the future of precision medicine for all.
As our understanding of molecular biology deepens, the concept of the “average patient” is disappearing. Common conditions like diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders are increasingly understood as distinct, genetic and molecular subtypes. As a result, many areas of biomedical research now face the same constraints (small patient populations and complex biology) that rare disease researchers have navigated for decades. To overcome these barriers, the rare disease community has built a culture of open sharing, radical collaboration, and patient-led research.
At Conscience, we believe that no patient should be left behind because a market is too small or a discovery path is too risky. If we apply the collaborative lessons of rare disease research to the broader medical landscape, we will move closer to a world where every patient gets the treatment they need.
