New gene variation predicts response to Plavix | Reuters

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - German scientists have found a new genetic basis for why some patients respond better to the anti-clotting medicine Plavix, which could be used to test people before they get the world's second-biggest drug.

In a study in the Nature Medicine journal on Sunday, researchers from the University of Cologne hospital found that an enzyme known as paraoxonase-1, or PON1, is crucial for the activation of Plavix, made by Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY.N), and known generically as clopidogrel.

The finding will fuel a debate about whether genetic or blood testing should be introduced for patients who need anti-clotting drugs in the light of several studies suggesting they are more likely to work in certain gene types.

Plavix had sales last year of more than $9.5 billion. The medicine is already off patent in parts of Europe and will lose U.S. patent protection in 2012.

However, experts say Plavix's effectiveness is hampered by differences in patients' metabolic processing.

This variability has been linked to genetic factors, but scientists do not agree about which specific genes may be responsible for differing response rates.

The issue hit the headlines in March, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Plavix's label should carry a warning that some patients have a poor response to it.

via reuters.com

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