Twenty years ago pharmacogenomics was supposed to revolutionize the way we practice pharmacy. Unfortunately, the revolution has been slow to evolve. That’s why this pilot program at UPMC is so exciting.
UPMC is piloting a program to perform genetic testing on patients to determine medication response. “At UPMC, doctors are testing for that gene before prescribing medications to patients who receive a stent.†This is one of only a handful of healthcare systems in the country openly performing pharmacogenomic testing.
“UPMC’s goal is to use clinical pharmacogenomics knowledge to individualize patient treatments – part of a broader program at UPMC that officials say could eventually include a wide variety of drugs to improve outcomes for patients…..The genetic and clinical information that is gathered for the PreCISE-Rx program, also feeds UPMC’s data analytics program, which is expected to lead to new scientific insights into how and why drugs work for some patients but not others, and to identify new drug targets.â€As
As pharmacists, we should be excited about this. We should also make sure that we’re waist deep in it. My hope is that UPMC has included clinical pharmacists in the program.
This is a great step toward personalized medication.
Source: UPMC pilots pharmacogenomics program, uses gene tests to target medications for heart patients
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