BioCertica Product Release: Pharmacogenetics Test

BioCertica Product Release: Pharmacogenetics Test

Celine Haarhoff

Research shows that 71% of consumers nowadays expect personalized interaction when exploring wellness options to invest in their personal health, prevent health risks and reduce medical costs [reference]. With BioCertica DNA tests, you get actionable insights to improve your quality of life, from what to eat, what exercises to do, and what medicine to take.

Now, imagine going to the doctor and getting a prescription. Will it give you any side effects? If there are multiple treatment options on the market for your condition, how will your doctor know if this is the best option?

Short answer: With pharmacogenetics tests, your doctor can pick the most suitable therapy for your condition with confidence and precision, minimizing the risk of side effects and the need for trial and error.

In recent years, the healthcare industry has been transformed by introducing a new field of study known as pharmacogenetics. This field combines pharmacology and genomics to help healthcare experts who prescribe medications, from general practitioners to specialist doctors like oncologists or psychiatrists, to understand better how a person’s unique genetic makeup affects their response to medication. This allows for more precise and personalized treatments for patients battling various conditions.

Pharmacogenetics is a revolutionary breakthrough in the healthcare industry, promising more precise, personalized treatments for patients of any age and health condition. An example of patients that will benefit most from pharmacogenetics testing are patients who encounter problems finding the ideal therapy or optimizing current therapy where they suffer from adverse side effects. 

The approach to healthcare has largely been a “one-size-fits-all”; treat X person with Y medicine. However, our unique genetic makeup creates an opportunity for personalized treatment based on that genetic makeup. For some people, Y may treat X, but for others, Y may cause severe side effects and ultimately cause more harm than good. 

BioCertica’s Pharmacogenetics DNA test will help your doctor to find the right medication without the need for trial-and-error. And for you as his patient, this means getting on the most effective medication with minimal side effects sooner, which will save you time, and money and, most importantly, give you a better quality of life. 

BioCertica introduces a pharmacogenetics test that tests for up to 2000 different genetic variants that are involved in gene-drug interactions. Genetic variants are useful in pharmacogenetics because some genetic variations that code for drug-metabolizing enzymes can influence how the drug is absorbed distributed, and removed from the body. This is the main contributing factor to why an individual's response to drugs may differ from another. Studies have linked specific genetic variants to a potential outcome in drug response.

Our report covers a large range of medications including off-the-shelf, over-the-counter, prescription and controlled substances. Moreover, we provide South African and USA names for drugs for which these are available. 

BioCertica’s Pharmacogenetics Report is available via a mobile app, where we present a very limited segment of results while the user must book a session with his practitioner to get full access to all the results. The fact that report is available in digital form ensures your report can never get lost. Furthermore, all information is secured and protected according to POPIA and GDPR standards. You have complete control over your data.

BioCertica Pharamcogenetics Test

A word from Edin Hamzic, Chief Scientific Officer at BioCertica; ‘’The focus of pharmacogenetics is all about how an individual's genetic makeup influences response to drugs and how this information can further be used to optimize drug therapy. For example, specific genetic variants increase the risk of severe effects from certain drugs, which can be easily avoided by having readily available pharmacogenomic results. The pharmacogenomic report can help practitioners, primarily clinicians, in drug selection for their patients and accordingly improve treatment outcomes. Therefore, we see the release of the pharmacogenomics report as one of BioCertica’s crucial milestones.’’

BioCertica Pharmacogenetics test benefits: 

  • Reduces risk of side effects 
  • Beneficial for patients on chronic medication
  • Improves quality of life 
  • Customized approach to a healthcare treatment plan
  • Increases efficacy of treatment 
  • Find the best treatment for you
  • Eliminate the cost of a trial-and-error approach to navigating a pharmaceutical market that is saturated with options  
  • Individualized disease-tailored medications

Pharmacogenetics is a revolutionary breakthrough in the healthcare industry, promising more precise, personalized treatments for patients of any age and health condition. For more information on Pharmacogenetics, feel free to email the BioCertica team at marketing@biocertica.com.

*Disclaimer: The term “drug” in the following article refers to a chemical substance used to treat, cure, diagnose or prevent a disease or condition. Alternatives for this term include medication, pharmaceutical or therapeutic agent. In this context, “drug” does not refer to any type of illegal stimulant or recreational drug.

Back to blog

Check out some of our DNA kits below.

1 of 3