Precision Medicine for All

Precision medicine today is built on genomic data derived largely from individuals of European and American ancestry, leaving a major gap in global healthcare. Treatments designed for one population often perform poorly in others. Nowhere is this gap more critical than in Africa, the founding population and the most genetically diverse continent on Earth.

At Afromics, we believe that genomic equity is not optional, it’s essential.

Take the case of Efavirenz, a common HIV treatment. In Botswana, 13.5% of people carry two copies of the CYP2B6 516T allele, significantly slowing drug metabolism and leading to increased central nervous system toxicity. Yet this risk is rarely accounted for in standard dosing.

Or consider Tamoxifen, a key drug in breast cancer therapy. Among Africans, 20-35% carry the CYP2D6*17 allele, reducing enzyme activity that is vital for drug activation. Women with this variant have been shown to face up to 4 times higher rates of breast cancer recurrence, an outcome driven not by biology alone, but by oversight in pharmacogenomic design.

By building Africa-centred genomic datasets, Afromics is working to correct this bias, bringing representation, accuracy, and fairness to the future of medicine.