Pharmacogenetics research to receive £4m funding
Funding to the tune of £4m has been allocated by the Department of Health to pharmacogenetics research. The aim is to find ways of targeting
drugs more closely to patients who will benefit most from them.
The DoH has invited bids from academic institutions covering adverse
drug reactions (ADRs) and/or improving the efficacy of clinical treatment.
Priority will be given to proposals that will ultimately reduce the incidence
of ADRs in the National Health Service. The Department is confident that
it will receive a number of high quality bids and that many of the research
proposals will ask for more than £500,000 each.
Areas in which the Department’s recently published White
Paper on genetics (PJ, 28 June, p881) says pharmacogenetics can be most influential
include:
• Studying medicines or classes of medicines which are commonly used,
expensive or used in otherwise healthy people
• Investigating serious ADRs which occur for different types of medicine
• Exploring medicines in which usefulness is significantly reduced by
genetic-related toxicity.
To be successful, bids will need to be clinically relevant. Where changes
in health care delivery arise, there must be a risk-benefit analysis
that shows favourable outcomes with no additional harm to patients.
Professor Tony Moffat, chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society,
said: “This is one situation where pharmacists are well placed.
Once a prescriber has diagnosed a patient’s disease and a genetic
test has been carried out, a pharmacist could interpret the data in terms
of choosing the correct drug and dose. We could see pharmacists becoming
independent prescribers using this.”
Professor Moffatt is chairman of the committee that will assess bids
and allocate the funds. |
