Matching drugs to people’s genetic code ‘new era of medicine’

A major report says we have the technology to begin a new era in medicine by precisely matching drugs to DNA.

Some drugs are ineffective or become deadly due to subtle differences in the way our bodies function.

The Royal College of Physicians and the British Pharmacological Society say a genetic test, which could be available on the NHS as early as next year, can predict how well drugs work in your body.

Professor Mark Caulfield, president-elect of the British Pharmacological Society, said “99.5 per cent of us have at least one change in our genome that, if we come across the wrong medicine, it will either not work or it will actually cause harm.”

Scientists have studied the 100 most prescribed drugs in the UK.  Their report says we already have the technology to roll out genetic testing to guide the use of 40 of them.  The analysis would cost around £100 and would be done using either a sample of saliva or blood.

Speaking of the test, Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed of the University of Liverpool, said “We need to move away from ‘one drug and one dose fits all’ to a more personalised approach, where patients are given the right drug at the right dose to improve the effectiveness and safety of medicines.

“What we’re doing is really going to a new era of medicine, because we’re all individuals and we all vary in the way we respond to drugs.”

Chair of NHS England Lord David Prior, said “This will revolutionise medicine”, adding that pharmacogenomics “is the future” and “it can now help us to deliver a new, modern personalised healthcare system fit for 2022”.

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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