31 OCTOBER 2025 14 NEWS ausdoc. com. au
2026
31 OCTOBER 2025 14 NEWS ausdoc. com. au
Bupa funds pharmacogenomics
Dr Simon Benson.
Jamie Thannoo A PRIVATE health insurer is offering free pharmacogenomic tests to thousands of customers, which it says will warn patients and their GPs about medicines that may be ineffective.
The first 10,000 Bupa members to apply before 30 November will receive free tests from genomics company myDNA, relating to 11 genes and 100 medicines, including those for psychiatric, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal conditions. It follows a decision by rival health insurer Medibank to partly cover the cost of the tests, which otherwise cost $ 198.
The Bupa customers will receive an at-home swab to perform and send to myDNA’ s lab and then nominate a GP to receive the results, which the customer can
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‘ It gives doctors one more tool to help guide them.’
only see after consulting the GP.
“ The idea is this gives doctors one more tool, alongside everything else they know about their patient, to help guide them,” said Dr Simon Benson, Bupa’ s clinical innovation and genomics director.“ Ninety-five per cent of people will have at least one clinically
significant genetic variation they can find as a result of [ pharmacogenomic ] testing.”
He said sending results to a GP first helped ensure that patients did not misinterpret them, with Bupa stressing it did not receive the results itself.
“ As a GP myself, before I got involved with this project, I irregularly referred people for pharmacogenomic testing and never had difficulty interpreting the result,” Dr Benson said.
However, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia worries that GPs lack the necessary support and education to deal with potentially unexpected pharmacogenomic test results despite supporting greater uptake of these tests.
The college says Australia is 10-20 years behind the US and Europe on mainstream uptake of pharmacogenomics.
“ This is not just something that could indicate whether a patient responds to a medication or at what dose,” Associate Professor Luke Hesson, co-chair of its pharmacogenomic advisory group, told Australian Doctor.
“ It can avoid life-threatening toxicity and save lives.
“ However, few resources are available to upskill GPs so they can understand what a [ pharmacogenomic ] report looks like and how to use it.”
Professor Hesson, a clinical genetic scientist, said many European countries funded more tests than Australia, which was one reason why Australian doctors rarely ordered them.
Medicare covers pharmacogenetic tests for thiopurine methyltransferase( the enzyme used to identify patients at risk of severe side effects from azathioprine, mercaptopurine and tioguanine) and human leucocyte antigen B * 57:01( to identify patients likely at risk of severe side effects from abacavir).
DPYD genotyping tests to predict compatibility with fluoropyrimidine for patients with solid tumours will become Medicare funded in November, while another test related to abacavir will join the list in 2026.
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