Research Triangle Park-based biomarker development company Metabolon has signed an agreement with a Boston genomics center to develop an improved system for people who struggle with balancing the blood-thinning activities of warfarin.
Diet and other factors can cause fluctuations in blood test results for people taking warfarin after synthetic heart-valve implants and other events. Scientists have also been searching for genetic variants that might lead to accurate dosing of the drug.
Metabolon's agreement is with the Harvard-Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics (HPCGG), a collaborative program dedicated to promoting genetics and genomics in research and clinical medicine.
"Metabolon's biomarker discovery platform gives us the opportunity to find biochemical markers that along with genetic variations might help characterize the differences in patients' metabolism of warfarin," said HPCGG Director Dr. Raju Kucherlapati.
Several academic and commercial efforts are underway, including a Partners trial called CROWN, aimed at examining the effectiveness of stratifying patients for warfarin dosing based on a patient's genetics. Now, in addition to studying the impact of genetics on warfarin dosing, HPCGG seeks to also examine whether a patient's metabolomic profile might also increase the likelihood of dosing warfarin correctly.
When they finish the study, Metabolon and HPCGG expect to report results from the collaboration in a peer-reviewed publication.
