Warnex to perform pharmacogenetic services for Schering-Plough

Laval, QC – Warnex says its medical laboratories division will develop new pharmacogenetic assays and serve as a central laboratory for several clinical studies of Schering-Plough Canada, a leader in the discovery and development of pharmaceutical products.

“Pharmacogenetic assays allow the correlation of different responses to drugs with genetic diversity and/or mutations, improving the overall process of drug development,” says Mark Busgang, president and CEO of Warnex. “In 2006, Warnex acquired PRO-DNA Diagnostics, a laboratory offering genetic testing services, in order to enter the pharmacogenetics market. These new projects with Schering-Plough Canada validate our strategy to develop our presence in this growing market.”

Pharmacogenetics helps to predict whether a patient will have a good response to a drug, a bad response to a drug or no response at all. According to the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, over 2 million adverse drug reactions (ADRs) occur yearly leading to more than 100,000 deaths yearly.

By employing pharmacogenetic studies in drug development, companies can increase the likelihood of a positive study result by matching patients who are more likely to respond or alternatively not more likely not to have an adverse event.

Warnex says its medical laboratories will provide pharmacogenetic and molecular biology services during Schering-Plough Canada’s clinical trials for drugs related to the treatment of different types of cancer and infectious diseases.