Immunotherapy, Genomics Gains Make These ‘Lucky Years’ Says David Agus

Sky-high drug prices and rising insurance premiums are grabbing the daily headlines. Nevertheless, breakthrough medical technologies are making this an exciting time for healthcare, said Dr. David Agus, author of The Lucky Years. 'We are radically changing healthcare and a lot of it is through data and technologies to identify which patient should take which drug, which in the long run makes us healthier and lowers costs.' Dr. Agus’ previous books include The End of Illness and A Short Guide to a Long Life. He is a professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California and heads its Westside Cancer Center and the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine. Genomics stocks were all the rage on Wall Street a few years ago, getting bid up to nosebleed levels before ultimately descending. Agus said gene editing and sequencing still holds great promise even if some of the shares did get ahead of themselves. 'We are now spending a small fraction on molecular diagnostics, literally less than a percent, that I think is going to explode as we do things better and more appropriately,' said Agus.