Genomics Collaboration
Pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions and the Food and Drug Administration have partnered to study genetic testing and the impact of genetics prescription drug efficacy, according to Medco. The agreement extends to Aug. 31, 2010. Over the next 2 years, Medco will deliver a series of reports to the FDA that will address the safety of prescription drugs, physician participation in pharmacogenomics testing, the usefulness of the tests in prescribing, and quantifying prescription information that contains genetic information. Medco said its reports will be derived from clinical settings, including one that will examine whether physicians are willing to change the dose of a prescription based on a genetic test result. “Studying this field can advance pharmacy care to remove some of the trial and error in how medications are prescribed,” Medco chief medical officer Dr. Robert Epstein, said in a statement.