Helix Bioscience appointed DNA Drug Sensitivity Testing Distributor for Genelex Corporation
Advanced tools for preventing Plavix and other treatment failures and adverse side effects now more widely available to doctors
Medigene appointed exclusive Greek licensee for GeneMedRx Personalized Prescribing Software
Advanced tools for preventing treatment failure and adverse side effects to be available to Greek doctors, pharmacists and patients
Personalized prescribing company formed by merger of Genelex Corporation and Mental Health Connections
Merger signals significant advance in personalized medicine
The first-ever comprehensive personalized prescribing services company has been formed with the merger of Seattle-based Genelex Corporation and Lexington, Massachusetts-based Mental Health Connections, Inc. (MHC), signaling a significant advance in personalized medicine.
FDA’s New Plavix Black Box Warning
Addressed by Genelex’s Plavitest™ The US Food and Drug Administration added a new black box warning to Plavix today, pointing out the importance of individual patient genetics in determining the effectiveness of Plavix treatment. The relabeling is in response to recent clinical research demonstrating that approximately one-third of patients are in varying degrees of treatment failure. These patients can be identified by Plavitest™ a DNA test that identifies patients taking Plavix who are at increased risk for a recurrent heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death.
Breast Cancer Patients Have Options, Yet Many Are Not Being Informed
“It takes time to move a technology from bench to bedside. When it comes to DNA testing to determine if breast cancer patients are likely to benefit from tamoxifen, that wait needs to end,” stated NFCR President Franklin C. Salisbury, Jr.
Genelex Corporation’s Tamoxitest™ could save thousands of lives
Los Angeles oncologist Dr. Michael Benjamin, MD is one of the first physicians to embrace this technology. "The Genelex gene profiling technology is a powerful tool to help my patients. With tamoxifen testing, we can appropriately individualize treatment based on patients' ability to process the medicine.”
Michael Jackson’s Death Illustrates
the Danger of Adverse Drug Reactions
The tragic death of Michael Jackson has the potential to create an important "learning moment" for physicians and patients. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, adverse drug reactions are the "4th to 6th leading cause of death" in the US. The published reports of Mr. Jackson's medications illustrate an important issue- any two drugs may be safe in combination but the cumulative effect of many drugs can be difficult to detect and very dangerous, especially in people with reduced drug processing capacity.
Genelex, a pioneer in personalized medicine, announces development of test that maximizes antidepressant treatment success.
Company founder urges government to apply rating system to home DNA tests to
protect against "unscrupulous and misrepresented tests"
According to Howard Coleman, CEO of Genelex Corporation, "thousands of
children have a decreased ability to process Celebrex that can be identified
by a simple DNA test for the CYP2C9 enzyme that alerts parents and physicians
that the drug could cause harm to the child." Approximately five percent
of the population has trouble processing Celebrex causing dangerous accumulation
in the bloodstream.
DNA tests now available to the public connect every human on earth to one of
51 ancient clans.
(SEATTLE) - New DNA Tests Could Prevent Thousands of Emergency Room Visits,
Hospitalizations and Deaths for Warfarin Patients.
(SEATTLE) - Genelex DNA tests could prevent thousands of emergency room visits,
hospitalizations and deaths for Coumadin patients.
(SEATTLE) - When families get together this holiday season, Genelex Corporation
hopes they will take a few minutes together to visit a new, free, online website
that can warn of serious -- potentially fatal - side effects of the medications
they take, known as Adverse Drug Reactions. The Internet program also checks
for potential negative interactions with certain foods, over-the-counter medications,
natural remedies and negative genetic predispositions to hundreds of commonly
prescribed medications.
(SEATTLE WA and LEXINGTON MA) - GeneMedRx is a software tool used by physicians
to identify potential drug interactions based on individual patient prescription,
over-the-counter, and herbal medicine regimens. GeneMedRx is the upgraded, genetics-ready
version of Mental Health Connections' P450 Drug Interactions program, in use
by doctors since 1997. Drug interactions are an important source of adverse
drug reactions, a major medical problem.
(SEATTLE WA and LEXINGTON MA) - The incorporation of DNA testing into the routine
prescription of medicines, the practice of clinical pharmacogenetics, is estimated
by many scientists to have the potential to reduce the incidence of adverse
drug reactions (ADR) by 20-50%. ADRs are reported to cause more than 100,000
deaths per year in the US
Consumers are clamoring for DNA testing because it has the potential to
immediately begin reducing the more than 100,000 adverse drug reaction deaths
and 2.2 million serious events that occur every year in the U.S. An explosion
of recent scientific research, improvements in DNA testing technology and the
implementation of clinically relevant information systems provides the knowledge
needed for the testing to enter the mainstream of medical practice. Pharmacogenetic
DNA Drug Sensitivity Testing will also help reduce the estimated $180 billion dollar
annual cost to the healthcare industry.
Stratterra, was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder) in children. Strattera's removal from the body is profoundly affected
by the genetics of an enzyme called CYP2D6. According to the FDA approved label
for Strattera, individuals who are CYP2D6 poor metabolizers because of their
DNA, are twice as likely to suffer from adverse side effects. A recent FDA warning
adds severe liver damage to the list of side effects that have so far been associated
with this drug. Strattera is in a relatively new class of drugs has only been
on the market since December 2004 so its long term adverse side effects are
not yet known.
January 5, 2005 - Users of the super aspirins Vioxx, Bextra, and now Celebrex
and Naproxen, wonder if they have been damaging their health. Parents of adolescents
who committed suicide after starting on the Prozac class of anti-depressants,
furiously asked Congress in November why such serious, possible side effects
were not made known. Most recently, over the counter medications such as Aleve
have been added to the list of drugs that can do serious harm. Class action
lawsuits (such as the recent Baycol lawsuits) have been filed regarding serious
side effects or death as a result of taking the prescription drug. More than
half of all people have variations detectable by DNA testing that affect the
safety and efficacy of these drugs including anti-depressants, anti-inflammatory,
pain, and many heart and allergy medications among others.
September 29, 2004- Genelex Corporation and Sterling Reference Laboratory, Inc.,
a blood testing laboratory, announced today that they will jointly provide pharmacogenetic
and other advanced genetic tests, in addition to their menu of clinical diagnostic
and toxicology tests.
December 2003 - Announcing Genelex's genetic testing packages as a unique christmas
gift idea.
