These game-changing companies are on track to revolutionize how we treat illness

Medicine is gearing up for some big changes.

From innovations in precision medicine that aim to make treatments customizable to patients to cures for some of the world's deadliest diseases, our treatments are shaping up to look very different in the next decade.

Here are the top 10 drug companies to watch.

CHECK OUT: 7 everyday items that wouldn’t exist as we know them without GMOs

UP NEXT: Everything women should know about the first FDA approved drug to boost female sex drive

Gilead’s Sovaldi/Harvoni has the potential to cure Hepatitis C.

In December 2013, the FDA approved the first of a new type of Hepatitis C treatments that has a 95% cure rate and works in as little as 12 weeks without any major side effects. Roughly 3 million people in the US currently have Hepatitis C (HCV), a chronic virus that slowly attacks the liver and can cause later-in-life health problems like cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Gilead Sciences, the company that makes Sovaldi, has already made more than $10.3 billion for the HCV cure. Other existing cures come with nasty side-effects including causing people to come down with flu-like symptoms. The new cure is made without the ingredient that caused those side effects. Experts estimate these new treatments could drastically reduce the cases of HCV over the next decade.

Up next: Gilead's looking into cures for HIV and Hepatitis B, neither of which yet have complete cures. 

Aprecia Pharmaceuticals just got approval for the first 3D-printed drug.

Earlier this month, the FDA approved the first 3D-printed drug, an epilepsy medication that's used to treat seizures in children and adults. The pill, which goes by the brand-name Spritam, is made by drugmaker Aprecia Pharmaceuticals.

By 3D printing the powdered form of the drug, it's manufactured into a tablet without being compressed, the FDA notes. This allows it to dissolve faster in the body, delivering the medicine quickly and easily — which is especially important for patients who have trouble swallowing. 

Researchers think 3D-printed technology could also be used to make other, more personalized drugs, as well. The possibility of printing your own drugs is still pretty far off, but Aprecia's 3D-printed drug is a huge step forward.

Axovant is betting it all on an Alzheimer’s drug it bought for $5 million.

Axovant's a newbie: While it's only been around for a year, the company, led by 29-year-old former Wall Streeter Vivek Ramaswamy, has put all its eggs in the basket of an Alzheimer's disease drug in that's only one critical clinical trial away from getting approval. Since buying the drug from GSK for $5 million, the company is now valued at $3 billion. 

There are very few drugs available to treat Alzheimer's disease; the average Alzheimer's drug has a 99% chance of failing. Researchers still haven't nailed down the exact cause of the disease, and very few trials of Alzheimer's drugs are taking place at the moment. 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: Here's what the US would look like if all the Earth's ice melted

from Tech http://read.bi/1NKsuZp