Medication Safety Code Initiative Looking for Survey Participants

The Medication Safety Code (MSC) Initiative (http://safety-code.org/) aims to improve the portability of pharmacogenetic data by enabling patients to carry information about their pharmacogenetic test results with them so it is available at the point of care.  The MSC system utilizes a QR (2D) barcode that can be decoded using a standard mobile device with access to the internet.

The MSC is conducting a survey (http://goo.gl/forms/gLPf2iPEyf) to help identify the essential pieces of information that need to be included in the system.  We estimate that it will take 10-15 minutes to complete the survey.  The first 10 respondents will receive a $17 / 15€ Amazon gift card.

Please consider responding to this survey by July 19th, 2015.  All information will be kept strictly confidential  and used only for the purposes of research for this project.  If you have any questions or if you experience technical difficulties accessing or submitting the survey please contact kathrin.blagec@meduniwien.ac.at.

CPIC Guideline Update for Allopurinol and HLA-B*58:01 Published

The 2015 update of CPIC guideline for allopurinol and HLA-B*58:01 has been published in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. CPIC extensively reviewed the recent literature and concluded that the dosing recommendations provided in the 2013 CPIC guideline have not changed.

The 2015 update includes the following additions:

• Updated evidence linking HLA-B*58:01 to phenotype (Supplemental Table S3).
• Added figures depicting clinical implementation workflow for EHR and Point of Care Clinical Decision Support (Supplemental Figures S1 and S2)

View the interactive CPIC allopurinol dosing guideline based on HLA-B*58:01, with the available full update and original published guidelines.

March/April SNPits Summary

In the March/April issue of UF Health Personalized Medicine Program's e-newsletter, SNPits, a recent study in the Lancet supports the benefit of pharmacogenomic testing for warfarin dosing is reviewed.  The authors found that those patients with warfarin-sensitive genotypes were more likely to be over-anticoagulated in the first 90 days.  Additionally, there were more overt bleeding events for patients with warfarin-sensitive genotypes.  Read more.

Annotated Health Canada product monographs now available on PharmGKB

PharmGKB now has annotated drug labels (referred to as product monographs) available from Health Canada/Santé Canada (HCSC).

PDF copies of the product monographs were sourced from HCSC's Drug Product Database (DPD). As with the annotated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency, Japan (PMDA) drug labels, HCSC monographs are given a PGx level of evidence, and a PDF copy of the product monograph with PGx information highlighted is available for each annotated monograph.

HCSC product monographs were selected for examination for PGx information based on the FDA's Table of Pharmacogenomic Biomarkers in Drug Labeling, as well as any EMA labels with PGx information that PharmGKB has curated.

It is possible that there are other HCSC product monographs that contain PGx information, and PharmGKB welcomes any feedback regarding PGx information within HCSC product monographs or labels from other medicine agencies around the world.

See a list of product monographs available on PharmGKB:
HCSC product monographs on PharmGKB

NIGMS announces funding changes for PGRN

NIGMS announces the transition of pharmacogenomics research from set-aside funding to regular competition.  The FOA for Research Centers for Pharmacogenomics in Precision Medicine (P50) is discontinued for 2015 and 2016.  Starting in mid-July, any investigator interested in PGx can join the Pharmacogenomics Research Network through the PGRN website.