MU| F e a t u r e s
Pharmacogenomics puts Manchester
at cutting edge
C
all it one more horizon at a
place where the horizons are
infinite and never far from either
sight or mind.
Manchester University breached this
particular horizon last November, when it
became the first school to be accredited for
a one-year master’s degree program in the
emerging field of pharmacogenomics, or
PGx. This will be a stand-alone program
within the Pharmacy Program – itself both
an act of courage and faith – and yet another
commitment to the University’s mission of
academic excellence and innovation.
The program, comprising three full-time
semesters, will allow students to engage in
hands-on training in a high-tech laboratory
in an immersive environment enhanced
by small class sizes. David Kisor, chair of
pharmaceutical sciences, directs the PGx
program.
So what is PGx?
To find its modern roots you have to go back
25 years to the inception of what was called
the Human Genome Project. Eleven years of
work led to the mapping of the human gene,
which in turn opened up new technologies
that have made it possible to analyze multiple
genes simultaneously.
makeup – thereby taking the guesswork
out of determining which medication
will work for which patient. The end
point is getting the patient on the right
drug, providing early response, while
avoiding adverse drug reactions.
Currently, there are more than 130
drugs on the market that contain
PGx information in the package
label, including about 20 of the most
commonly prescribed drugs that are
known to interact with an individual’s
genes. The continued development of
this technology could have the biggest
impact on cancer treatment, where 75
percent of patients don’t respond to the
initial prescribed drug.
PGx, it is hoped, will replace that
trial-and-error approach with one in
which not only the correct drug but
the optimal dosage can be identified
for each individual patient. Widespread
application would theoretically replace
treatment of drug reactions with
prevention, vastly reducing the cost of
such treatment.
By Benjamin Smith
PGx incorporates these new technologies to
study how variations in the human genome
affect a patient’s response to medications. It’s
a large-scale, often genome-wide approach
that could eventually allow drugs to be
adapted to each person’s individual genetic
Thomas Smith, assistant professor of pharmacy
practice, works in the lab.
Manchester | 19