Impath's Informatics Play

Impath's unorthodox step into the cancer information business has made it attractive to Wall Street, but will its vast, specialized databases allow it to reap benefits from pharmacogenetics? The real value to Impath of its databases resides in their ability to promote work on targeted therapeutics, whose use in patients will depend on critical markers. But targeted therapeutics are a controversial concept that requires pharma companies to make basic changes in the way they operate. There's no guarantee Impath can get the pay-off it wants from its new initiatives.