Not all prescription medications are equally effective for all people. In fact, some medications can trigger adverse reactions in certain individuals. Research indicates that there are 106,000 deaths and 2.2 million serious events caused by adverse drug reactions in the US each year.1 These harmful drug reactions are responsible for 6.7% of hospital admissions2 and are due to how an individual tolerates certain drugs. For example, it??™s been found that approximately 30% of the nearly five million patients taking Plavix (a drug used to protect against heart attack or stroke)3 do not metabolize the drug correctly because of genetic variation in their liver enzyme. This genetic condition places those individuals at about a 50% higher risk of heart attack or other cardiovascular issues, such as stroke4. Thus, by knowing one??™s sensitivity to prescription medications like Plavix, Coumadin (a highly prescribed blood thinner), and other medications, a person can work more effectively with their doctor to determine optimal medical treatment.

Pathway Genomics??™ other pharmacogenetic responses include:

Abacavir Hypersensitivity ??“ Ziagen ??“ HIV/AIDS Caffeine Metabolism Carbamazepine Hypersensitivity ??“ epilepsy/bipolar disorder Clopidrogel Metabolism ??“ Plavix - antiplatelet Methotrexate Toxicity ??“ antimetabolite/antifolate for cancer/autoimmune disease Statin Induced Myopathy ??“ muscle pain/weakness Statin protection against myocardial infarction ??“ heart attack Tamoxifen Response ??“ breast cancer Warfarin Metabolism ??“ Coumadin - anticoagulant

Pre-pregnancy Health

Some genes are recessive and Pathway Genomics currently checks for hundreds of mutations linked to nearly 40 recessive genetic disorders. Even if a person does not directly experience a specific health condition, their genes may contain genetic markers that, when passed down to offspring, may trigger that condition. This is commonly referred to as carrier status and is part of Pathway Genomics??™ pre-pregnancy screening. Today, the company checks for more than 300 markers and 37 carrier diseases. If both parents are carriers of a particular genetic marker, each child of the couple has a 25 percent chance of inheriting two copies of the disease-causing variant and developing the disease. By understanding this information, couples can make more-informed family-planning decisions. The following is an abbreviated list of conditions reported.

Bloom syndrome Cystic fibrosis Galactosemia Gaucher disease Hemochromatosis Nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss Polycystic kidney disease Pompe disease Tay-Sachs disease Beta-thalassemia SOURCE Pathway Genomics Inc.