Australian gene test opens door to personalised care

Feb 6 2008

Australian researchers have led a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows a simple blood test can allow doctors to predict which HIV patients will have a side effect, known as a hypersensitivity reaction, to a particular medication before it is prescribed.

The PREDICT-1 trial1 was directed by Australian Professor Simon Mallal of Murdoch University and Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia. “PREDICT-1 opens the door to the personalization of medicine in HIV care. For the first time HIV clinicians can routinely use a genetic test to predict how their patient will react to a treatment, which will assist them in prescribing the right drug for the right patient”

PREDICT-1 is one of the largest international studies carried out in HIV. Sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and co-ordinated from the Institute of Immunology & Infectious Diseases the study has proven the accuracy of the HLA* gene test. Patients provide a blood sample which is tested for the HLA* gene which determines their level of hypersensitivity to a specific HIV medication and therefore whether they are likely to experience a hypersensitivity reaction. This side effect occurs in around 5% of patients that receive a particular treatment.

The technology behind the HLA test may now open the door to valuable medicines in other disease areas that would have been rejected because of side effects or lack of efficacy linked to certain genes. GSK is already using the same approach in other therapy areas such as in Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

Medical Director, of GlaxoSmithKline Australia, Dr Michael Elliott said, “GSK supports research of this type and is already using the same approach in other therapy areas such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes. In future, treatment choices will increasingly be based on the genetic make-up of an individual, which will lead to more effective treatment with less side effects and better outcomes for patients. Australia has a strong record of scientific research of this kind and the PREDICT-1 study is another excellent example of this.”