AssureRx Health adds CYP1A2 gene to laboratory-developed pharmacogenetic test

Mar 9 2010

AssureRx Health, Inc., a personalized medicine company focused on pharmacogenetics to aid in the treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders, today announced that it has added a fifth gene, CYP1A2, to its laboratory-developed pharmacogenetic test. GeneSightRx® measures and analyzes more than forty clinically important genetic variants that affect patients' response to medications prescribed in psychiatric medicine. The CYP1A2 gene is involved in the metabolism of a number of commonly used drugs, including antidepressants and antipsychotics.

The updated 5-gene test, a web-based therapeutic decision support product, analyzes genetic variants which may affect a patient's ability to tolerate or respond to psychotropic medications. GeneSightRx integrates the analysis of genes and their many variations to obtain an evidence-based pharmacogenetic profile. The gene variations are further analyzed against 26 FDA-approved drugs to help physicians select patient-appropriate psychotropic medications. In addition to the CYP1A2 gene, GeneSightRx includes the CYP2D6 gene, the CYP2C19 gene, the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 and the serotonin 2A receptor gene 5HTR2A.  

"Enhancing our pharmacogenetic test by adding the CYP1A2 gene is an important part of our strategy of serving the behavioral health community with therapeutic decision-support products," said James S. Burns, President and CEO of AssureRx Health. "GeneSightRx now provides physicians with even more information about their patients' unique genetic fingerprint, allowing them to make more informed medication choices for each individual patient. Our goal is to provide treatment-oriented support that helps prevent needless side effects and delays in achieving response."

Al Lucas, Vice President Sales and Marketing at AssureRx Health said, "Variations of the CYP1A2 gene can affect several commonly used psychiatric medications. By adding this gene to GeneSightRx, we are able to further differentiate the AssureRx technology from routine genotyping tests. Psychiatrists can benefit from having a more defined picture of how key medications can be affected by this variance before making decisions on how to treat a patient."