Proove Biosciences Launches World’s First Test to Predict Responders to Commonly Prescribed Non-Opioid Pain Medications
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) April 23, 2015 -- Proove Biosciences, a commercial and research leader in Personalized Medicine, is excited to announce the launch of Proove Non-Opioid Pain Medication Response profile. This profile assesses 62 genetic variations to predict good versus poor responders and provide dosing information for commonly prescribed non-opioid pain medications, namely ibuprofen (brand name Advil, Motrin), gabapentin (brand name Neurontin), alprazolam (brand name Xanax) and acetaminophen (brand name Tylenol).
“With the addition of this test, Proove now provides every prescriber of pain medications – the largest healthcare condition in the United States affecting 100 million Americans – with the ability to predict response before prescribing for the major opioid and non-opiod pain medications. This revolutionizes the nature of prescribing pain medications and brings us to a time when we can employ rationale decision-making rather than empiric prescribing,” states Proove CEO Brian Meshkin. “At the end of the day, Proove provides proof to improve important healthcare decisions such as these. This proof saves lives, spares anguish, reduces pain, and limits costs to the healthcare system.”
Proove Non-Opioid Pain Medication Response profile combines genetic predictions for enhancing efficacy and decreasing toxicity of a patient’s non-opioid therapy by combining genetic analysis of the target of drug action, modulation, and/or metabolism. All of these factors - which are collectively called pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic factors – are important in determining the effect that a drug is likely to have.
“The Non-Opioid Response test is a unique test that uses genetic information to predict response to certain medications, ” states Proove Senior Director of Research and Development Tobore Onojighofia. “With this test, a physician will be able to know the medication that will likely be most effective for the patient, thereby reducing cost and shortening patient duration of recovery.”
Proove research studies have discovered that specific genetic variants in the Dopamine Beta Hydroxylase (DBH) gene are associated with responses to Ibuprofen, a result supported by previous findings that ibuprofen can increase the number of dopaminergic neurons in culture and have a neuroprotective effect against excitotoxicity.
Alprazolam treatment response was found to be associated with genetic variants of its target – the receptor for GABA, the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain – which likely alter its binding affinity or activation properties. Interestingly, a patient's response to Alprazolam was also found to be associated with genetic changes in MTHFR, the gene for a folic acid-activating enzyme involved in regulating homocysteine levels. This suggests homocysteine levels are involved in psychiatric imbalances, perhaps due to their involvement with proper neurotransmitter metabolism.
Each non-opioid pain medication was analyzed individually across hundreds of patients, taking into account dozens of genetic variants, to address the considerable individual variability of response that is noted by patients and clinicians in over clinical sites nationwide.
About Proove Biosciences
Our Mission is to Change the Future of Medicine. Proove is the proof to improve healthcare decisions. We seek to realize a future when clinicians look back and wonder how they could’ve ever prescribed medications without knowing how a patient would respond. With offices in Southern California and the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, the Company is the research leader investigating and publishing data on the genetics of personalized pain medicine with clinical research sites across the United States. Physicians use Proove Biosciences testing to improve outcomes – both safety and efficacy of medical treatment. From a simple cheek swab collected in the office, Proove performs proprietary genetic tests in its CLIA-certified laboratory to identify patients at risk for misuse of prescription pain medications and evaluate their metabolism of medications. For more information, please visit http://www.proove.com or call toll free 855-PROOVE-BIO (855-776-6832).
Nicole McMillan, Proove Biosciences, http://www.proovebio.com, +1 855-776-6832 Ext: 1546, [email protected]
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