Quest Diagnostics, a leading provider of diagnostic information services, has announced a new advanced pharmacogenomic (PGx) laboratory test service aimed at helping healthcare providers better understand a patient's genetic response to specific drug therapies. The innovative offering is designed to guide prescription decisions by providing insights into appropriate medication selection and dosing across a wide array of medical specialties, including psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, oncology, rheumatology, and pain management. This service is a collaboration between Quest Diagnostics and Coriell Life Sciences, a company now part of InformedDNA.
The new PGx test from Quest Diagnostics and InformedDNA's Coriell Life Sciences is designed to help reduce therapeutic failures and adverse drug interactions, which can be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. It aims to improve outcomes and decrease unnecessary costs associated with trial-and-error prescribing. The test analyzes 17 genes and 4 HLA alleles with clinically actionable pharmacogenetic associations, drawing on evidence from expert groups such as the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) and the FDA.
The offering provides a comprehensive report delivered by Quest, which includes the patient's genotype and predicted phenotypic response, along with personalized medication guidance through a link to a report powered by InformedDNA. Additionally, clinicians gain access to GeneDose LIVE, a clinical decision support tool from InformedDNA that allows for a comprehensive evaluation of a patient's entire therapeutic regimen, assessing both genetic and non-genetic risks.
InformedDNA, a leader in applied genomics solutions, acquired Coriell Life Sciences to combine their deep genetics expertise with scientific innovation in pharmacogenomics. This partnership is dedicated to using precision medicine to optimize clinical decisions, improve patient outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs. The collaboration with Quest enables the delivery of clear, actionable guidance that translates complex genetic data into practical information for providers, thereby facilitating truly individualized care.
For patients, accessing the test is made convenient through Quest's extensive network of over 2,000 patient service centers across the United States. Quest also offers at-home phlebotomy collection services, providing an alternative for individuals facing scheduling, distance, or other barriers to in-office testing. The underlying principle of PGx testing is that variations in a person's drug-metabolizing enzymes, drug-target proteins, and drug transporters can significantly influence how they respond to medication. By using genetic insights, PGx testing supports providers in tailoring therapeutic regimes to individual genetic profiles, leading to safer and more effective prescribing decisions.