Mission

As many as two thirds of all psychiatric patients do not respond well to treatment with drugs.

While compliance and frequent side effects play a major role, there are also genetic variations which determine whether side effects occur, and which can also prevent medication from working, resulting in reduced or compliance.

Our international consortium will conduct a pharmacogenomic study to establish the relationship between response to treatment and genetic background.

The research was recently awarded eight million euros in European funding.
Today, medication selection in psychiatry relies on a trial-and-error approach that combines physician experience with clinical indicators. Pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing can help reduce uncertainty in this process by determining the person-specific genetic factors that predict clinical response and side effects associated with genetic variants that impact drug-metabolizing enzymes, drug transporters or drug targets, where differences in metabolism are by far most important.
PSY-PGx is the first non-commercial, large-scale, international initiative with the overarching aim to provide best quality of care, to reduce personal suffering as well as the societal and financial burden of psychiatric disorders. To achieve this, a Clinical Study in psychiatric patients will be performed using individual patient characteristics, including pharmacogenes, to personalize medication prescription.