The University of Florida (UF) Academic Health Center has adopted Life Technologies‘ QuantStudio 12K Flex system using OpenArray consumable plates to implement a new personalized medicine strategy to screen all incoming catheterization patients for their likelihood of responding to the anti-platelet drug clopidogrel (Plavix) and other treatments.

The new program diverges somewhat from the more commonly explored Plavix pharmacogenomics strategy of administering to patients a single CYP2C19 genotyping test to identify responders, and is largely enabled by some of the unique aspects of Life Tech’s platform, UF researchers and Life Tech officials said this week.

As reported this week by PCR Insider sister publication PGx Reporter, researchers within the Personalized Medicine Program at UF collaborated with Stanford University and Life Tech to develop a custom multiplexed PCR assay that interrogates the seven CYP2C19 SNPs linked to Plavix response, as well as 249 SNPs associated with a number of heart-related conditions and treatments.

UF has garnered CLIA certification to analyze the CYP2C19 alleles associated with Plavix response as part of a laboratory-developed test, and is currently working on getting CLIA certification to run the additional SNPs.

Genotyping results for Plavix response will be stored in UF’s health IT system and become a part of patients’ electronic medical records. If a patient has a genotype that indicates reduced response to Plavix, a physician prescribing the drug would receive a "best practices advisory alert" to help guide treatment.

In the meantime, researchers at the program will collect results for the other 249 gene variations to continue investigating which ones might be clinically actionable and become the basis for additional PGx tests for other treatments such as warfarin and statins.

Source: Life Technologies